


Affinity Unbound

by radiocabel



Series: Affinity Unbound [1]
Category: Affinity Unbound
Genre: And by Avatar I mean TLA not the movie, Angst, Creation Myth, Drama, Early Modern Era, Fantasy, Furry, Gay, Gen, Humor, If you like BNHA I think you'll like this TBH, Melodrama, Original Fiction, POV Third Person, Political warfare, Relationship(s), Snipers, This story is basically JJBA and Avatar mixed with some FMAB
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 23:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 47
Words: 169,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10977300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radiocabel/pseuds/radiocabel
Summary: Affinity Unbound (formerly Modern Legends) is an original story by tumblr/twitter user radiocabel.  The story takes place in an early 1900s era fantasy setting in the fictional continent of Omnia. It details the adventures of their original characters Elric Inocencio, a well-off Creaden with a distaste for conflict; Yori Bellevoir, a Creaden with a lust for sniper rifles and unparalleled perception; and Calina Shaori, the Simenti thief with a love of adrenaline.  Many Creaden and Simenti (but not all) are born with a natural power known as an 'affinity': a natural attraction to one of the eight basic elements of the world. These elements are Water, Earth, Fire, Energy, Air, Space, Time, Spirit. This story follows these characters and their journey through a world that's growing more dangerous by the day. Thieves, assassins, liars, and more await our heroes.Act 1: Basic Training (Chapters 1-12)Act 2: The Walk (Chapters 13-24)Act 3: Even in Death (Chapters 25-35)Act 4: United Synchronization (Chapters 36-41)Act 5: Burning Dread (Chapters 42-47)





	1. Night Feasts

**Author's Note:**

> This story is rated T for teen. Expect some swearing and mild violence, but nothing gratuitous. Also, don't expect any sexual content.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we set the stage.

The room was dark, illuminated only by candlelight. A hunched over figure sat in a wooden chair, pouring through the pages of a textbook. Describing this textbook as 'thick' would be like describing a particular blade of grass as 'green'--it was a common trait among all the books in the room. In fact, there were books everywhere; one couldn’t take three steps without tripping over some form of literature, fiction or nonfiction. Most of them would be of the nonfiction variety, titles including _Affinities and You; History of the World: The Legendary Gemstones; Sniping Basics; Intermediate Sniping; Advanced Sniping Tactics_ , and so on. Interrupting all the books were spare bullet casings and pages torn out from books. Were they important? Possibly, despite being organized as well as a pile of leaves.

The young woman was a Creaden, a species known for squirrel-like tails and pointy ears. Brown fur covered her entire body, as well as her longer than average tail. On top of her head were perky ears, shaped like slightly inflated triangles. Darker brown hair lay between those ears, falling only to about shoulder length. Her amber eyes were buried in her book, scanning the pages and text as intensely as they could. Despite it being well past midnight, she wore her usual daytime clothes. Pajamas were overrated, she thought.

"Space, time, water, air, earth, fire, and... ugh. Space, time, water, air, earth, fire... Ugh! It's always the last two elements!” She thought to herself.

“The last two?” A voice called from the doorway. "Tick and tock."

The book-loving young woman looked up ahead of her. "Dad?"

"It's three in the morning. Tick tock.”

“Dad, please. I'm trying to memorize all the affinity types...” Yori trailed off, leaning back in her chair with a sigh of frustration. She let go of the book.

"In all seriousness, though, it's energy and spirit. Tick and tock was just a joke I was making."

Her dad was halfway through the door frame, leaning in and holding onto the knob with one hand. It was late at night, so he was wearing his pajamas: a loose shirt and even looser pants. A quick glance around the room told him everything he needed to know. Yori hadn't been making a lot of noise, but he knew she was still awake. Most would call this a lucky guess, but he called it dad instinct. Either that, or it had been a noticeable pattern in her behavior that lasted for years. He entered the room quietly, closing the door with great care not to wake his wife. Noticing there had been a spare chair, he grabbed it by the seat and pulled it up to her. As he sat down, he noticed the books sprawled out on her desk.

“Sweetie, you’ll do fine tomorrow. What you really need is rest! All-nighters never worked for me and believe me--I've tried. Last time I tried that, I fell asleep and drooled all over the paper." Her dad stuck out a finger with his left hand and tapped her nose.

“I wasn’t planning on staying awake all night, just most of it.” She leaned forward again, shoving her nose past her father’s finger. Her nose then reset itself to its default position: in between pages. This was comfortable for her.

“Wow, you really bury your nose in books, just like your mother.” Her dad smiled gently, putting his hands back at his side and leaning in closer to Yori. "Come to think of it, you're more like me than your mother. She hates guns, yet here you are with a rifle mounted above your bed. I can't say I'm the most comfortable with your... hobbies... but I do my best for you. Why don't you do your best for us and get some sleep?" He suggested.

“I wanna sleep too, dad. It’s just... studying is so difficult when you don’t have an affinity. I still don’t know how they manifest! Like, they just manifest differently? Everyone that could get an affinity just has one at random and it can take any sort of shape or form? Like, umm...” Yori paused to think, pulling her nose out of her book and looking upward. “Like, if I had an earth affinity, I can’t do anything with earth, only something specific.” Yori said.

“That’s true,” he said.

“And, like, let’s say I could, uh, make stairs out of mud that could hold my weight or something. I couldn’t make a spear out of mud, could I?” Yori asked, glancing at her father.

“Probably not. Affinities are very specific. Mud stairs sound lame, but think of how awesome it'd be if you worked near a mud factory!”

"A _mud_ factory?" 

"Hey, I'm trying to help out here."

Yori sighed. “Anyway... lemme make sure I remember all of the elements. Fire, air, earth, water, space, time, spirit... and then energy?"

“Now you got it,” Her dad said, sitting up straight. “Just do that tomorrow and you’ll be golden.”

Yori smirked. “Is there really no other way of memorizing this easier? I mean, it’s a lot to take in, especially what you just told me. I remember it now, but what about later? What if I forget? What if I drool on my exam?” Yori asked as she turned to face her dad completely.

“Well, I had a similar problem when I was your age. Studying, I mean. Not drooling. That's gross. You see, I had a way of memorizing all of them. We Feasts! Water, earth, fire, energy, air, space, time, spirit! What do you think?”

“That's... really lame, actually. But it's working! ” Yori tried to hold back her laughter, but she couldn't. She began to smirk, and before long she was cracking up. It didn't take much for her dad to laugh either. Yori's smiling face was plenty for him. After the two shared a brief laugh, Yori started to turn her nose back into her book.

“You should really go to bed, Yori. It’s late and you’re clearly tired. Plus, your mother will kill me if she finds out I let you stay up all night. Again.” He said.

“But... but...” She didn't want to turn and face him again.

“Are you worried you’re going to fail?” He said.

“No, it’s not that...” She trailed off, looking away from him entirely..

“Are you upset you still don’t know what your affinity is supposed to be? You know, it's perfectly normal to be upset about that.” He comforted her.

Yori glanced upward, but not towards her dad. She stared straight ahead at the wall in front of her, swallowing uncomfortably. She began to speak. “Everyone I know has one. Even you and mom! Both with space affinities! You two can do amazing things that I can never do!” Yori’s book dropped to the ground with a loud thud.

“Yori...”

Yori stood up from her seat and faced her father. The chair had been knocked aside and fell over a small pile of books behind her, causing another loud thud. Any restraint Yori had was being drained slowly from her like a leaky faucet. And much like a leaky faucet, her eyes began to well up ever so slightly. Not wanting to cry in front of her dad, she wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

“It’s not fair. I’m supposed to have one too, aren’t I? I did everything I could, but I still don’t have anything. No ‘We Feasts’ for me...” Just as quickly as she had risen, Yori had fallen. She grabbed her seat and sat back down.

These outbursts had never been unusual for her. Her father had remembered several incidents much like this one. Whenever he wanted to comfort her, he remembered something that made her happy. Usually, this would be her hobbies, which included the normal girly stuff, like sniping. He was never that familiar with how guns worked but was always interested to ask her. However, something told him this wouldn't calm her down so easily this time. Perhaps attacking the problem directly would work best?

“It’ll be alright. Listen, it takes some longer than others. You’re only 16. Your mother didn’t find hers until she was in her mid 20′s.”

“But what if,” Yori sniffed, “what if I don’t ever find it? Am I going to grow up alone and unimportant? I don't wanna be like that...”

“You’re not any lesser for that,” he added. “You’ll still be you. And you’ll always be every bit as extraordinary as you are to me now. Affinities don't make anyone more special than they would be without one. It's just something extra, something nice to have. It doesn't define you. The only thing that can define you is yourself. Besides, you can only do the same party trick so many times before it gets old. That's all affinities are if you think about it.”

Yori let a tear trail down her cheek, quickly rubbing it away and hoping he didn’t notice. “Thanks, dad.” She said, turning to hug him. He, of course, embraced her in return. After a slightly longer than expected hug, her father stood up straight.

“Affinities are tricky,” he said. “I think you’ll have one. I think it’ll be really good, too. But more importantly...”

Yori's eyes followed her father as he walked over to the wall to her right. He grabbed her unloaded rifle from the mount and tossed it across the room to her. She caught it in both hands, finger off the trigger of course, even though it was unloaded.

“No matter what happens, you will still be exceptional. While it's not exactly 'normal' for young girls like yourself to have a gun hobby--"

" _Sniper rifles_." Yori corrected.

"Exactly! That's what makes you special. I don't know any teenagers that can shoot moving targets out of the sky without a scope. Yeah, it's kind of weird, but it's who you are. You're special, whether or not you have some weird power over one of those elements or not. You don’t have to be able to manipulate one of those We Feasts-”

“Can you not call it that?” She giggled.

“Alright. You may not be able to, say, command flame, or make mountains move, but you will still be able to overcome any obstacle thrown at you. Affinities are just means to an end. Are they nice? Of course. But they don’t define you. They're just an extension of your potential as a person.”

Yori's dad reached his hand out in front of him. His palm faced Yori and his fingers were outstretched. With a sudden downward swipe of his hand, the rifle in Yori's grasp was soon thrust away from her. The gun went flying towards him and he grabbed it effortlessly with his other hand in a little spectacle. After smirking, feeling all proud, he walked back over to the wall mount and return the rifle to its proper location.

“My space affinity is something else, alright. Being able to grab objects from across the room with a swipe of the hand... They should make a novel about me! I'll call it... 'The Handy Man'!” He stared at his left hand, still facing the wall.

“I have to _hand_ it to you, dad. That's pretty good.” Yori chuckled. It was too silly, even for her.

“I don’t have any doubts.” he turned back around and walked towards the door. “Now get some sleep, okay?”

“Alright, dad. Good night.”

“Good night, dear. And may the gods watch over you.” he opened and closed her door quietly.

Yori stood up and walked over to her drawer, pulling out her pajamas: a loose t-shirt and shorts. As she changed into them, Yori stared at the rifle on her wall and walked over to her bed, climbing inside and turning onto her side. Her hands curled in front of her, she glanced at both of them, wondering if there was some latent power inside of her. Something she didn’t know was there, just waiting to manifest. Something unique, something really special. Perhaps now was not the best time to dwell on it, but unfortunately for her, she had no say in when she could worry about herself.

“Someday...” she whispered to herself. “Maybe if I hang around Elric long enough, his earth affinity will rub off on me and I’ll get something cool.”

She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep, inspired.

Meanwhile...

*******************************************

A young Creaden sat outside on the grass in the early morning moonlight. The grass was wet with rain that fell not long ago, dampening his feet and bottom. He knew the rainwater would wet his shorts, but he didn't care. Knowing no one would bother him, he decided to sneak out of his home and away from his guardians to gaze upon the moonlight on a nearby hill. The grass was calming, as was the serenity of silence. Sitting with his knees bunched up against his chest, his hands wrapped around the front, he gazed skyward.

"I am certain Aurora would have loved this sight." The young man spoke to himself. "Mother was always fascinated by the beauty of the sky, so much so that she was named after the dawn itself. I wonder if she would scold me for coming out by myself so late."

He glanced all around and saw nobody around, nothing but a few trees and the grass around him. Closing his eyes, he began to imagine a moonlight picnic. This was something he had been told his mother always enjoyed having. It was hard imagining her appearance, but he knew a few key details. she was a little shorter than he was, her eyes were icy blue, and...

"Elric..." A faint voice called out.

Elric's eyes shot open and glanced all around. He didn't recognize the voice, but somehow it sounded familiar to him. He couldn't see anyone around him, however. Deciding not to worry about it too much, Elric closed his eyes again.

"Elric..." The voice called out again. This time, his eyes stayed shut, the voice was as clear as day now. He began to remember something, a memory returning to him like a bubble floating to the surface.

He was laying in bed, only five years of age. The memory seemed so vivid like he was living it all over again. His eyes were shut and he was trying to sleep when he heard his bedroom door open. Pretending to be asleep, Elric closed his eyes. The sound of approaching footsteps made him squeeze tighter. The footsteps stopped suddenly, and the next thing he felt was warm, wet lips on his forehead.

"Elric... Know that your father and I will always love you. You mean the world to us. Remember that, please." She cupped a hand against his cheek. Before long, she turned around and left his room, leaving him in peace.

It felt like an eternity ago, but still remembered it so vividly. He could almost feel her gentle hands on his face, her words echoing in his ears... He sighed and stood up straight, hands curled into fists at his sides and staring at the moon. The soft, gentle glow of the moon calmed his very soul. It was very pretty, he thought. He wondered if his aunt and uncle would come with him for a moonlight picnic sometime soon. With a long, deep breath, Elric felt his mind cleared. He turned around and walked down the hill once again.

"I will never forget, mother and father. Rest in peace."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I was coming up with the concept for Affinity Unbound, I actually had trouble remembering all the elements myself. I came up with We Feasts while writing this chapter and I haven't forgotten it since. I hope it helps you too.


	2. In the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Elric and Yori wait in line for adventure.

4 years later...

Sunrise. Birds chirping. The smell of fresh dew on cold strands of grass. Early summer was finally here for all the Sabinese people to appreciate. Some were out trimming their lawn, exercising in their yards, or just appreciating the lovely weather. For these people, today was just an average morning. It wasn't a holiday, so what could possibly make today any different than the ones before it?

Military sign-ups.

A large house lay in a sea of similarly sized abodes, fitted with a large wooden door and brilliantly colored walls. A single home stood tall and proud, but not any taller or more proud than the others around it. Sure, it was impressive, but so were all the others. The front door had opened so suddenly, the knob banged against the outside wall. Yori stepped out sheepishly, grabbing the knob and pulling the door back in. She had wanted to take a deep breath to clear her mind, not accidentally slam a door open. "Whoops..." She muttered. This wasn't how she wanted to start her day. Today was a day she had spent a long time preparing for.

“Yori,” a soft voice called out from inside the home. “Don’t slam the door. You're making my ears ring.”

“Sorry, mom!” Yori tilted her head back and shouted.

Yori had gently grasped the doorknob, closing the door. This time, she opened it with plenty of care and grace. Her mom nodded silently from the kitchen in approval, nose buried in a book. “I know you’re excited, but this is no time for carelessness," she said.

“Yeah, you’re right. How could I not be excited, though?” Yori asked cheerfully. She glanced downward at her outfit: a dark gray t-shirt with a pink butterfly on the bottom left side, a navy blue jacket cut short just above the hips, a pair of striped pants, black boots, and spiked bracelets. In recent years, Yori had decided to adorn herself with a hairstreak, dying it electric blue. Her fashion sense was met with either complete approval or tilted heads (and not in a positive way), but she wore what she pleased. If one didn’t know she was about to sign up for the military, it would be hard to guess. Her rebellious outfit betrayed her actual demeanor; she was the kind of person that many would misjudge based on appearance alone. She had always joked that her appearance-behavior mismatch was like looking at slightly out of date bread from a distance: how could you tell? To her, it was her way of grabbing attention and making friends.

“You were about to leave without giving your father a hug?” Her father joked, feigning emotional distress.

"Hey, I want a hug as well. Don't leave me out of this!" Her mother put her book aside and ran towards the door. Not far behind her was her husband, Yori's dad. They stood side-by-side in the doorframe, holding each other in their arms. All they could see in front of them was a young girl heading out on her own. All Yori saw were two worrywarts.

“Mom, dad...” she said. “I’ll be okay! You said it yourself, didn’t you, mom? That I’m capable of handling myself. That I can do whatever I put my mind to?” 

“Yes, dear. We really do know you will be alright. But...” her mom paused.

“What she’s trying to say is,” her dad interrupted. “We’re always going to worry about you. No matter what, at least one of us will be anxious to see you home safe. And before you ask, your mother is _definitely_ the one to worry more.” 

“Thanks, Anri. Glad to know you'll always have my back." She sighed. "Yori, don’t listen to your father. We both always worry about you. It comes naturally with parenting.” Her mom chuckled quietly, side glancing at Anri then back to their daughter. Yori wordlessly hugged the two of them, arms wrapped around either parent. Their arms wrapped around her and each other, embracing each other one more time. Both parents now had their heads behind their daughter's, and the two shared one more glance of genuine concern with each other. At least Yori couldn't tell. It was Yori who pulled away first, stepping out of the door frame, only to bang her head against the wall.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Yori grabbed her head. So much for an emotional exit, she thought. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Don't worry... Er, at least try not to worry too much!” Yori began walking backward, waving goodbye.

Yori’s parents held each other in their arms, watching their only daughter walk away. They weren’t quite sure how they felt. Anxious? Proud? A mix of the two? Concerned for sure, that one was easy. Then again, it's not hard to feel that way. They watched her leave before closing the door in an attempt to come to terms with reality. The house was about to get a lot quieter without her around, but this realization hadn't hit either of them yet.

Yori’s backpedaling landed her right up against a taller male figure. In terms of "functioning like a normal person," Yori was 0 for 2... Had she been even more careless, she would’ve knocked him over. She spun around, nearly hitting him again with her arms. 0 for 2 and a half.

“Oh gods, I’m so sorr...” she paused. “Elric? What’re you doing here? At this time of day? Localized entirely within Propietra City?”

In front of her stood Elric, her childhood friend. He was tall, taller than she was. His stance was always stiff and alert, unlike her more relaxed posture. There was only one way to describe Elric's fashion sense, aside from saying he had none: disjointed. Today's outfit was a blue sweater with black pants, combined with a long and flowing white cape, adorned with a red gem and a symbol of a dragon on it. This was, unfortunately, Elric's most well put together outfit. On particularly unfashionable days, one could find him wearing shorts, a crop top, and a flowing cape. He, for some reason, always preferred to look as tacky as possible. While Yori was at least good at dressing in one way (and one way only), Elric had no such... luck? Skill? If Yori's outfits caused some people to turn their heads in confusion, Elric's outfit would cause people to gawk openly. If Yori's fashion sense were the 'moldy bread' look, then Elric's fashion sense was like looking at your least favorite food. Flawless execution, but absolutely terrible taste. The kind of style that would make you question, 'They left their house and considered this an acceptable outfit?'

“Yori, please pay attention. You were lucky it was me and not someone else.” Elric scoffed, hand on his chest.

“Oh, fine. In my defense, though, hardly anybody comes by here at this time of day. I mean, you’ve seen this neighborhood. It's hardly even city-like, yet they group it with the capital... why?” She said, pointing all around.

“From what I understand, there's a minimum population requirement for an area to be designated a city. The surrounding suburbs actually add enough population for the city area you're thinking of to be considered a city. This area is city in name only, as you can tell. It is certainly a rich area. Your houses are spaced apart enough to fit another house of equal size between them. Hardly a city if you ask me, but then again I'm no politician.” Elric explained, closing his eyes and acting smugly. Yori had stopped paying attention to Elric long ago.

“Elric...” Yori interrupted. She felt like he was about to start part two of his commentary. “You didn’t answer my question earlier. Why’re you here?”

“I made up my mind.”

“You’re joining the military too?” 

“Reluctantly, but yes.” He crossed his arms.

Yori recalled all the arguments the two of them had over this exact topic. She had brought up this very topic to him months ago, and at the time he was incredibly dismissive of it. Now it seemed like he had a total about-face on his stance on the matter. This only confused Yori further. What made him change his mind? Was it because she was so adamant? It was really unusual for him, she thought.

“Why?” She asked.

“You need a spotter. Spotters should generally be someone familiar to you, yes?” Elric said.

“And you knew I was signing up to be a sniper?” Yori smirked, crossing her arms to mimic him. She leaned closer as well, staring deep into his green eyes.

“You hardly ever let go of that rifle of yours. Knowing that you’d never let go of that thing, I made an assumption. Your choice of careers where they allow rifles on the job are slim.”

Yori left her rifle at home. Ever since she was fifteen and showed interest in more adult hobbies, she was immediately drawn to the sniper rifle. To her, they were beautiful marvels of technology. Of course, she just had to get the top of the line model. Thankfully her family could afford her luxurious and unusual habit. At the time, the most high-quality weapon she could afford was a flintlock rifle with a modest scope with a range of about half a kilometer. She loved it so much, recalling nights she spent polishing it, kissing it, disassembling it and reassembling it. The usual stuff.

“You didn’t bring it?” He asked, noticing the lack of rifle slung around her back.

“They provide one. I’ll be honest, it’s uncomfortable, trying to use someone else’s rifle. It’s just not mine, you know?” She said as if he would know. She slouched backward, arms still crossed.

“You are just full of surprises. Of all the Creaden I know--”

“Which, compared to me, isn’t as much” Yori interrupted.

“...Of all the Creaden I know, you are by far the most baffling.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Yori smirked. “Ah! We’re gonna be late if we keep this up!”

“Lead the way, Yori.” Elric said reluctantly.

Yori turned and grabbed Elric by the hand, dragging him along as she marched forward. Her pace seemed to be just a bit faster than Elric would care for.

The two of them walked onwards, passing by what seemed like an endless supply of well-to-do houses. Could houses be well-to-do? Well, if any houses could, it would be these ones. After a while it kind of just started blending together, no one house really stand out from all the rest. There weren't very many people out and about, and the few that were awake at this time were likely getting ready for work or doing some lawn care. The nearest military base was actually just outside of the main city area, the 'real' Propietra City if you asked any citizen in the area. The main city is not exactly large, but the buildings are definitely not joking around. Saying 'skyscraper' would be inaccurate, but some buildings certainly reached more than a couple floors in height. Elric and Yori knew they were getting close when they saw a crowd of people and some larger buildings not far off in the distance. Yori groaned as she glanced ahead of her.

“Seriously? A line?” Yori complained, almost ready to go home at the mere sight. 

“Surprisingly so. Maybe if we complain loudly enough, the crowd will disperse.” Elric replied, snarkily.

“Thanks, Elric.” Yori replied, sulking some more.

The two stared ahead of them at the small crowd of people lined up in front of them. The crowd waited patiently in front of a sign that read ‘Military Sign Ups Today’. From what Elric and Yori could see, there must have been a couple hundred people waiting. If they had to guess, they would estimate around two hundred or so arrived before they did, with more coming behind them. Among the crowd were people of all different shapes and sizes, some dressed nicely while others seemed to have barely gotten out of bed. They were all Creaden, just like them. Sabine was a heavily Creaden nation. 

"Elric! That guy's barely even dressed! He literally just crawled out of bed! I mean look at him, he's wearing JUST his underwear. And... and now he's scratching his butt. Ugh." She facepalmed, closing her eyes to shut out this mental image. Yori was honestly surprised there were so many potential recruits this early in the morning. Was it going to be even worse later on in the day, she thought? Groaning in disapproval, she dragged Elric by the arm into the end of the line. Once there, she crossed her arms and pouted in disapproval, facing Elric.

“Pouting makes the line clear faster, Yori.” Elric frowned. He wasn't a fan of lines either, but he knew order was important.

“What else am I gonna do? I’ve reached my sulking quota for the week.” Yori replied, not afraid to hide her snark. She turned her head to face him but was still leaned forward as if she were bent over the top of a waist-high fence.

“Tell me more about why you wanted to enlist in the first place. I know you’re a great listener, but I never expected you to take it this far.”

Yori paused to think about her answer briefly. To her, it seemed so clear and obvious. She stood up straight, proud. “I wanted to protect my country. I like it here and want to keep it peaceful. Is that wrong?” She turned away from him, arms crossed.

“No, I would not say so. I was surprised, is all. You have a talented mind, your grades were always impeccable. I had thought you would want a career in the sciences or something along those lines.”

“Science is nice, but I wouldn’t really know what kind of science I wanted to study, you know? I don’t think I could wear a lab coat and, like, mix vials all day.”

"There are other kinds of sciences besides chemistry. I don't think I need to educate you on that. We were always neck and neck for grades."

"Still beat you."

"Irrelevant." Elric said. Yori stuck her tongue out, facing him briefly.

The line progressed slowly. Yori took one step forward, as did Elric. Yori let her arms down and rested them at her sides. She was turning to face Elric when she noticed a figure off to the side. A lone figure, not interacting with anyone else and minding to themselves. It was very ordinary. Too ordinary, she thought. Glancing around, she realized nobody else paid any mind to this person. Yori thought this was strange. Everyone should be on alert at a military base, the fact that no one was looking at this person rubbed her the wrong way. She focused her vision and noticed an unusual shape in their pocket: something relatively short, but... could it be...?

A knife?

“Hey, Elric,” Yori grabbed his cape and tugged it. “Doesn’t that person look... strange to you?” She pointed.

“What about th-”

“Their pocket. Look.” Yori pointed and Elric saw what she meant.

Elric and Yori glanced around them. Even still, nobody else was even glancing in this person's direction. Elric thought this to be strange too. Armed guards everywhere, and even more civilians waiting patiently in line. How was there a gap in everybody's cognition? Yori looked closer. They looked as if they were intending to blend into their surroundings by not wearing anything too unique. They wore plain clothes, had an average build... It was all remarkably unremarkable. Elric and Yori noticed the mysterious person was beginning to run, perhaps they noticed them staring?

"I’m pretty sure I saw a knife in their pocket. Should we go after them?” Yori asked.

Elric glanced ahead, seeing the figure running towards a tall, metal fence with no guards. He immediately broke out into a sprint, his large legs striding along the ground effortlessly. Yori immediately followed suit. The suspect reached into their pocket and validated Yori’s fears. Given their path, Elric and Yori realized they were attempting to climb the fence, possibly kill somebody along the way if need be. Or worse, maybe they had a target. Yori grew more anxious by the second, feeling her heart rate skyrocket almost immediately. She was hardly a runner, but Elric was most talented with his legs. Elric was much faster than whoever this suspect was. He quickly caught up and Yori was not far behind. 

“Stop!” Elric shouted, causing the person to turn around.

It had been an average height Creaden. They had worn a pair of nondescript pants and a large hooded jacket to help conceal their appearance. Their fur was wheat-colored, and their eyes brown, but this was all Yori could distinguish so quickly. Everything else about their appearance had been covered. Yori had assumed their build to be average, but up close it became more apparent that perhaps this person was more muscular than they appeared at first glance.

After Elric shouted, a few people drew their attention towards all the ruckus. Some guards had noticed the commotion too and began to approach, but not fast enough before the suspect could act first. “Or what?” The suspect chuckled. They then turned around to continue running when Elric stomped on the earth between them.

Yori circled around Elric as he stomped, knowing what was coming next. His stomp reverberated in the ground beneath him, causing a reaction. The ground swelled in front of his feet, and in front of him, something amazing happened. A small platform made of solid dirt and grass launched off of the ground in front of him. His stomp caused the top five inches or so of dirt and grass to “jump” out of the earth, creating a temporary, floating platform, which would be sufficient to hold his weight for a short period of time. Yori capitalized on this opportunity and hopped on top of the floating earth platform, using it as a boost. She quickly jumped off of it, using the added height to her advantage.

The suspect turned around just in time to witness her in the middle of her eight-foot leap, followed by a swift kick to the chest. Yori landed gracefully, landing on her legs and bounced gracefully. The floating earth platform she once stood on collapsed behind her, and the suspect was on the ground. Elric and Yori slowly approached them on either side, kicking away their knife from their reach. They grabbed either of the knife wielder’s arms and restrained them. By this point, a guard reached them to find out what all the commotion was. They were large and imposing, wearing military fatigues. What really made him scary was his muscles, which was incredibly apparent even underneath his camouflage uniform.

“What appears to be the problem here?” the soldier asked.

“Let go of me! You two, now! Come on!” The suspect screamed. The line of people was now directing their full attention at what was going on here. Some other soldiers came and physically blocked the scene with their bodies, not wanting civilians to witness what was going on.

“This criminal was running with a knife towards that fence over there.” Elric said, tightening his grip around their wrist.

"Well, teachers do tend to suggest children not run with scissors. Glad that you two could really drive that point home." The soldier chided. "You really subdued him by yourselves?" He was almost impressed.

“Yes, sir. We caught them before anyone got injured, thankfully. What should we do now?” Yori felt their ‘prisoner’ struggle to break free.

“You two are civilians, yes? And you two thought it was smart to try and take them out? What the hell would we do with two bodies lying in front of a crowd?”

“But, sir, we--” Yori was cut off.

“Leave this to the professionals.” The soldier grabbed the suspect and wrestled them out of Yori and Elric’s grips, standing them on their own two feet.

“Hey! Stop! Let me... let me go!” They screamed more. The soldier in question had wrapped both arms around the ruffian, sliding them under his armpits and pulling them up to restrict his arm movement.

“You two, stay here.” The soldier ordered. “You will be dealt with.”

Elric and Yori were about to protest, when--

“That won’t be necessary, Alessi.” 

From behind Elric and Yori came a woman who radiated authority. Her posture, her outfit, everything about her screamed powerful. Her blue jacket was interrupted only by a red waistband, bisecting her brilliantly colored uniform. A navy cape draped around her shoulders danced in the gentle breeze gracefully, complementing her dominant appearance. The power emanating off of her stature was more than enough to convince anybody standing within line of sight to take her seriously. Her hat gave away her identity, the insignia of the standing army of Sabine belonged only to one person.

General Nortia, the unyielding. 

“Ma’am!” the soldier responded, attempting to salute her while also restraining the person.

“Alessi,” Nortia’s arms wrapped behind her back around her waist, “I’m curious as to what you meant. ‘They will be dealt with’, is that correct?”

“Y-yes ma’am!” The soldier was beginning to sweat visibly.

Elric and Yori had no idea how to react. They attempted to salute her, but her back was to both of them. They both turned around, sweating bullets from sheer anxiety and worry. Still, they weren’t quite sure how else to respond.

“And what is there to deal with, exactly? From what I can tell, we have two upstanding citizens and a crotchety soldier. Said crotchety soldier is demeaning their amazing work, work that soldiers on my payroll couldn't handle, apparently.” she approached Alessi, examining the person he was restraining. “This person is no threat. I can tell you're scrawny under all of those clothes. You wanted to look big, didn't you? It's the same with all of you.” Nortia commented. She eyed them up and down.

“The hell do you mean ‘no threat’, you old hag?!” They spat in her face.

Nortia didn’t even flinch, but her eyelids half closed in response. To anyone else, it would've seemed like a reaction. With Nortia, it was more of a glare than an attempt to keep saliva out of her eyes. Her hand reached up towards her face and wiped the spit away.

“Alessi, handle this ruffian. I’ll be handling these two... heroes. Dismissed.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Alessi quickly turned around, taking away the spitting, hooded figure.

Nortia quietly turned around to face Elric and Yori. Yori was practically sweating bullets at this point, while Elric was maintaining his composure somewhat more.

“What are your names?” Nortia asked, her voice booming.

“G-General Nortia!” Yori blurted out.

Nortia almost didn’t respond, but she did smirk ever so slightly. Her towering presence was almost ruined by this sudden show of glee.

“That’s my name.” she replied, appearing unimpressed.

“Ma’am,” Elric filled in, “This is Yori Bellevoir, and I am Elric Inocencio.” 

“I have to say, I was most impressed by your teamwork and cooperation.” Nortia congratulated them. “You managed to subdue a potential criminal while completely unarmed. Not many people can do that, even with military training.”

“Ma’am, thank you, ma’am!” Yori shouted.

“General Nortia, thank you so very much.” Elric replied.

“It’s my pleasure, really.” Nortia’s hand rested on her chest. “We could use your combined talents. Were you here to sign up this morning? Oh, and you two can be at ease.” Nortia replied.

Elric and Yori almost immediately slouched over, panting and sweating. 

“Elric, we just subdued a criminal!” Yori cried out, what just happened hitting her suddenly. She leaned forward and began bear hugging Elric tightly, trying to spin him around but realizing that was dumb and they were both too tired for that.

The realization hadn’t really hit Elric either. His eyes went wide briefly before regaining his composure. He couldn’t even comment.

“I must ask,” Nortia said, turning her attention to Yori. “What drew your attention to this person anyway? They didn’t look troublesome to me.”

“Uhh, umm.” Yori was stuck, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

“She was always quick to notice things that most others could not.” Elric added. “Yori has the talent to pick up on little details that would otherwise go unseen.”

“I see.” Nortia seemed impressed.

“Thanks, Elric.” Yori whispered.

Nortia extended her hand, in between Yori and Elric. “If you two wanted a position in my army, you’ve more than proven yourselves. Come with me.”

Yori’s eyes went wide. She glanced at Elric, whose eyes weren’t quite as wide. She nodded joyfully, and he returned with his own nod of approval.

“Ma’am, thank you, ma’am!” Yori shouted, taking Nortia’s hand. Elric did the same, holding Nortia’s hand. 

“I appreciate the enthusiasm,” Nortia sighed, “But I won’t be holding your hands to my office. You two can let go now.”

Yori and Elric quickly retracted their hands. Yori rubbed hers awkwardly, while Elric rubbed the back of his neck. Their first impression was already going incredibly well. 

“Come. We’ll talk.” Nortia began walking away from them. Yori and Elric quickly followed behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite managing to subdue a knife-wielding hooligan, Elric and Yori are still dorks at heart. Never forget this.


	3. General Hospitality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Elric and Yori go on a tour and meet some colorful(?) people.

"What would you two think of a tour of the facility? If you two are to be new recruits, then you'd surely be interested in seeing where you'd be staying, would you not?"

General Nortia had been leading Elric and Yori to the front entrance of the military base. She asked a simple enough question, but to Elric and Yori it was still a lot to take in. They were admiring the complex's sheer size. Elric and Yori had seen large buildings before, but the spectacle this building put on left them awestruck. The building's large, concrete walls broken only by glass windows every a fixed distance apart. Altogether, it created the image of strength, yet transparent at the same time. The army was widely respected in Sabine; soldiers were treated like distinguished guests no matter where they went.

"I'll take your open mouths and wide gazes as a yes, then?" General Nortia turned around to face the potential recruits. Elric and Yori followed closely behind Nortia, only stopping when she did. As soon as she turned around, Yori's hands found themselves on Elric's shoulders, almost hiding behind him. Elric glanced back and coughed, a not so subtle suggestion to get off of him as soon as possible. Yori obliged, coughing awkwardly in response.

"We'd love to." Elric replied.

"Excellent. I do love giving a good tour, I'll have you know. I may look old, but I can still handle tours myself. I don't need a cane yet." Nortia's hand rested on her chest while her other was wrapped behind her back.

"That's so cool." Yori commented, eyes wide with admiration.

General Nortia chuckled. Her hands fell back to her back and she turned around, facing the entrance of the large military complex. "I'm glad you think so. It's always nice to hear appreciation, even if you haven't seen me in action. I was a soldier much like you two intend to be, you know. Fought for queen and country. I hope you two do the same." she walked forward and opened the large double doors in front of her. Elric and Yori entered right after she did, letting the doors close loudly behind them. As they entered what appeared to be the main lobby, they realized that the exterior was completely misleading.

It was even bigger on the inside.

"How big IS this place?" Yori was astonished.

"Oh, I don't remember exactly how big," Nortia commented, "But I'd say it's... pretty big." she smirked, walking immediately past the front desk.

"Excuse me," the secretary sitting at the desk interrupted. "Who are you two exactly?" the young Creaden pointed at Elric and Yori. She couldn't have been older than 18.

"Artemis. These two are potential recruits. They're with me. I appreciate your vigilance, but you can assume anyone following me is accounted for. Understood?" she hadn't even turned around to face her.

"Yes, ma'am." the secretary replied.

Elric and Yori continued walking, looking all around the base more. The front lobby looked well-furnished enough--it almost didn't even look like a military base. You wouldn't be able to tell if you hadn't seen all the armed soldiers walking around outside. The lobby had a concrete floor, but a big, blue carpet covered most of it, only leaving the extreme edges exposed. The walls were adorned with medals and diplomas and other certificates of soldiers, past and present. At the end of the lobby was a giant portrait of Nortia, brilliantly painted. It depicted her with a foot on top of a rock, saluting slightly away from the front of the portrait. A couple of potted plants adorned the room, adding a little bit more color to the room. Elric and Yori had expected gray on gray the whole way through, but were amused by the amount of color and care the lobby had been given.

"Come." Nortia beckoned.

The general led both of them down a long hallway which only served as real estate for more awards and honors for prior soldiers, including a wall dedicated to fallen soldiers. Yori stopped and glanced at the list, recognizing a few surnames of friends she had known. Nortia had kept walking for a few extra steps, not noticing that Yori's footsteps had ceased. She turned around and approached Yori. Elric had hung around her as well.  
"Ah, paying your respects to your predecessors? How thoughtful of you, Bellevoir. However, I would rather not spend more time than is necessary here."

"Right, right. Sorry, ma'am." Yori apologized.

"What's next on our tour?" Elric asked, standing in between Nortia and Yori.

"The tour includes the main lobby, the training yard, and my office."

"Not the dorms?" Elric asked.

"We don't like to intrude on trainees in their private areas. Do understand that we respect privacy here, Inocencio." Nortia said, firmly.

Yori glanced past the two of them and noticed the hallway bent to the left. Remembering how the building looked from the outside, Yori realized the entire building was in a square shape. The training areas constituted the courtyard. Almost every other major facility was likely to be a room in the main building. From out a window, Yori could see a few decently sized cottage-looking abodes. She deduced them to be the dorms, which she thought was reasonable enough.

"Let's carry on." Nortia insisted, resuming her original path. Elric and Yori quickly followed suit. Nortia had opened a nearby door and led the two of them outside to the courtyard. It was split into two segments: one for close quarters combat (CQC for short), and the other for firearms and affinity training.

"General Nortia," Yori said, "This place looks kinda.. cramped. I'm an aspiring sniper, I feel like I would need much more space than this. I'm sorry if that's presumptuous or rude or anything..." Yori's hands bundled in front of her chest.

"Right you are, Bellevoir. Don't you worry, we have a special area for individuals such as yourself. I won't have time to show you two today, but take my word for it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the arrangement we have currently."

Yori looked a little excited, but her anxiety made her hesitant to flap her hands too much. Elric glanced all around, noticing just how spacious the courtyard was. The CQC training area had a few soldiers trading blows with each other, all wearing the same camouflage fatigues they had seen earlier. He observed fellow Creaden trading punches, kicks, even slaps sometimes. Whatever works, he thought. Yori took the time to observe the firearms and affinity training area. There were a small group of soldiers practicing loading their flintlock weaponry, guns that could take a full minute to reload. Yori was in love already. On the other side of the same section, she witnessed a display that, to her, was almost as dazzling as the gun polishing.

"Ah, I see." Nortia rested a hand on Yori's shoulder, "Interested in how we train affinities here?"

"A little. I can see a lot of weird stuff going on over there. Lots of weird air and earth stuff, I think that one person over there just fell over on the ground?"

"That's normal. Some affinities can be completely baffling if you haven't seen them before. That person over there who collapsed? That's Corporal Spiro. Her affinity involves her collapsing her body and losing control over it, appearing to be deceased. However, she's completely alive. She's training herself to extend the length of time that she can feign death for. You see, when she does so, she does stop breathing." Nortia explained.

"That's sooooo coooool." Yori already wanted to meet them but decided it was best not to cause TOO much of a scene. It's not even technically her first day.

"So is your office next?" Elric had already crossed his arms by the time he spoke up.

"That is correct, Inocencio. Interested to see where a general does all of her work?" she smirked ever so slightly.

"Yes, actually. Given how well furnished the lobby was, I cannot wait to see just how regal your office is." Elric said.

"There's only one way to find out, is there? Come, you two." Nortia led them back inside and down the hallway. They walked until they came across a door that stood out against all the others they had passed. It was a big door--of course it'd stand out. Nortia rested a hand on the knob and reached into her pocket to pull out a key, but noticed it was unlocked already.

"Hmm." Nortia muttered.

"Is something the matter?" Yori asked.

Nortia opened the door slowly, glancing all around. Everything was in order. "Not at all," Nortia commented. "Just my imagination."

Nortia walked straight forward into the room. Elric and Yori entered next at the same time. They glanced all around, realizing how similar it looked to the lobby. One major difference was that her office was smaller and there were at least twice as many medals and diplomas, as well as the large portrait of herself. The other key difference was that these medals and certificates were not for her soldiers, they were for her.

“Apologies. I’ve tried tidying up in here, but sometimes I just don’t have the time.” Nortia sighed.

Elric and Yori weren’t quite sure what a general’s office looked like. At least, not until today. They had both pictured something along the lines of a big and messy room. Maybe something that looks like it has been well used. Nortia’s office was not quite up to their expectations. Where does a general find the time to organize every single document she obtains and keeps on her desk? How can she stay on top of all of this paperwork? Moreover, it seemed almost everything was meticulously placed and deliberately designed. It almost looked brand new, but it couldn’t be, could it?

So the walls were adorned with all these awards for Nortia. That was pretty cool. A big desk sat towards the back of the room, made of black painted wood. In front of the desk were two wooden chairs that didn't really fit in the room, but Nortia must have visitors often enough to justify them. Much like the lobby, some potted plants adorned the corners of the room, as well as a large double window to the left of Nortia's desk. Behind her desk was a large, leather chair. Its red cushioning just screamed regal. It looked like something Yori could buy for her father's study.

“General Nortia, honestly, your office is quite neat.” Yori complimented.

Nortia looked up at Yori, both she and Elric too awkward to take a seat across from her desk. Nortia motioned for both of them to sit in the less-than-elegant-but-still-comfy-looking chairs. They awkwardly scooted the seats forward towards the desk.

“I’m very particular about my choice of words. I suggest you two do the same. I don’t say the words ‘honestly’ or ‘to be honest’ or any variant thereof.” Nortia leaned forward, her elbows resting on the desk. Her hands folded together in front of her mouth.

“When you say ‘honestly’, it says to me that you’re dishonest anytime you _don’t_  say it. Is that clear?” she glanced at Elric, then Yori.

“Yes, ma’am.” Elric and Yori replied.

“I’m glad we settled this.” Nortia sat back, keeping her hands folded as they were on her desk. She reached to her side and pulled out two sheets of papers–sign up forms. She passed one to both Elric and Yori as well as a fountain pen for each of them.

Yori took a pen and paper and glanced at the form. The usual information she expected: name, date of birth, parents/guardians…

Affinity.

She glanced over and saw Elric filling his form out without a second thought. He met her gaze and went back to writing all of his information down. Turning her eyes back to her form, she hesitantly wrote ‘Not Applicable’. Nortia observed Yori’s hesitance but said nothing about it. Instead, she asked a better question.

“All of this excitement and I haven’t even asked what your specialties are. I know you two work well as a team, but do you have any firearms experience?” she asked. 

Yori stopped writing and looked up at her. “Just me. I’ve spent the last, erm, six or seven years practicing my sharpshooting skills. I have this sniper rifle at home I use to practice with. I spend a lot of time with it, I find it especially interesting.”

“I could always employ more talented snipers. And you, Inocencio? What is _your_ talent?” She turned her gaze to him.

“I have no plans to discharge a firearm in my life.” Elric said frankly.

“Oh? Is pacifism your talent?” Nortia asked, curious.

“Forgive me if this sounds arrogant, but I believe any conflict can be resolved non lethally. By using my affinity and my acrobatic skills, I feel any confrontation can be handled with grace.” he explained.

“Interesting.” Nortia paused to think. She looked as if she had more to say, but didn’t for some reason. “How did you two pick that one person apart from the rest of the crowd? They didn’t seem very suspicious to me until we saw the knife.”

“We both have excellent eyesight.” Elric responded. Yori was about to, but her voice was caught in her throat. 

“Yes, that much was obvious. But, Yori,” Nortia leaned in closer to her, almost sensing her nervousness, “What drew your attention to this person at all? Average all around, and yet you still felt something was wrong.” She stood up from her chair, hands on the desk as she leaned in closer to Yori. To Yori, this felt like an interrogation.

“She has a talent,” Elric butted in. “She’s always been good at spotting things even I can’t. We may both have great vision, but her perception is top notch.”

Nortia sat back down in her chair after giving Elric a long stare in the eyes, his own gaze not budging or backing down. He would not, or could not, be intimidated so easily. “Very well.” Nortia accepted. “Finished with the applications yet?” she asked.

Yori hesitantly slid hers forward, her gaze falling back down to hers as Elric saved her yet again. Elric handed his in almost immediately. Nortia’s eyes darted across Elric’s application quizzically.

“Lives with aunt and uncle, earthen based affinity, 21 years of age…” her eyes looked forward at Elric.

“Is something wrong?” Elric asked, leaning forward. 

Nortia didn’t answer, instead opting to read Yori’s application. “Mother and father, 20 years of age, no affinity. I see.” 

Yori’s face went red as an apple. Elric’s hand rested on her shoulder.

“These are all in order. I’ll review this later tonight. You two can come back tomorrow morning and we’ll discuss this in further detail.” Nortia stood up and held out her hand. 

Yori and Elric rose out of their seats, Elric giving her a firm handshake while Yori mustered up the strength to match his for Nortia. 

“Thank you, ma’am.” Yori bowed. 

“General Nortia, it has been a pleasure.” Elric replied.

Yori was the first one to leave the room, opening the large door. As she stepped out, she heard Nortia beckoning Elric. She stood just outside the doorway and closed the door, but never walked away. 

_“Inocencio, I hope you don’t plan on enlisting to make a mockery of me.”_

_“I dare not dream of the possibility."_

She could tell immediately who was who, their voices clashed against each other so heavily. One was proud, loud, and full of confidence. The other was almost as confident, but Yori could tell Elric's voice lacked the experience that Nortia's did. His voice sounded reclusive, almost afraid to say what was on his mind. Elric sounded like he wanted to stand his ground, but couldn't for whatever reason. 

“Elric…” Yori ran her fingers down the door. She was concerned, but she couldn’t do anything more now. A soldier appeared in front of her and instructed her to follow him. Doing so reluctantly, Yori was escorted out of the premises and was soon outside again. She waved to the secretary as an act of goodwill, but she hadn't noticed the gesture at all. _So much for diplomacy_ , she thought.

Taking in the sights all around her, Yori noticed it was just starting to rain. The line had dissipated greatly. At the front of the building past where they had all entered were a few tables with some soldiers sitting at them, taking in the last few potential recruits. To her, it seemed like anyone who was still around was  _extremely_ late, or didn't care enough to come early. Either way, she figured their chances of joining were slim to none. Nobody wanted to be out in the rain anyway.

Mercifully, the front of the military base had an awning that covered Yori from the oncoming storm. She pulled her jacked up over her head and ears, covering as much as she could.

“I worry about you, Elric.” she whispered under her breath. She began to dart from under the awning and ran into the open, making her way home. 

While on her way, Yori spotted a lone person wandering around outside, not even a quarter kilometer from the base. The person in question was standing facing away from her, looking at the horizon. It was weird, she thought. Why was someone in the rain alone without even an umbrella? She thought this to be too unusual to ignore, so she walked towards the figure. They were about her height, maybe a little shorter, it was hard to tell. Their fur color was only very slightly lighter than hers. Yori couldn't tell much else apart from that from behind. 

"Hiya!" she said cheerfully. 

Silence.

"I'm Yori. Aren't you cold? It's kind of... raining. And stuff. You know?" Yori tried  _so_ hard not to be awkward. 

The other person didn't even turn to face her.

"Okay then. Do you, uh, want my jacket or something?" She was sweating, even in the rain.

"No thanks." the other person responded. Their voice was much gentler than Yori expected.

"You're not wearing a jacket? Just a long-sleeved shirt and some pants?"

"I don't plan on staying out here for long if that's what you're worried about." they responded.

"Well, I mean, what if you caught a cold? That'd be, uh, not  _cool_?" she chuckled uncomfortably.

Silence.

"Alrighty! I'm not your mother or anything, so you go have fun... doing whatever it is you're doing, uh...? What's your name?" Yori spun her leg around and began walking away.

"Bye," they said.

Yori had better luck talking to her rifles than she did this person, apparently. She just kept walking away, not wanting to catch a cold herself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Yori, you're too personable for your own good. Elric, you're not personable enough.


	4. Under Pressure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Elric gets dunked on.

_The next morning..._

Yori had no intention on being late to meet with General Nortia. Getting up bright and early was her style for a long time, so she had no issue with this at all. She went through her usual morning routine: shower, comb hair, brush fur, brush teeth, polish gun, get dressed, the usual stuff. As she began to make her way down from her upstairs bedroom, she noticed the rest of the house was eerily empty. Yori looked all around the rather large sized house but found no sign of her parents at all. 

"Hm?" Yori said aloud, finding a note on the table.

_Yori,_

_Sorry we couldn't be here this morning to see you off to meet General Nortia. We're still very proud of you. We'll be back in a few hours, see you soon. XOXO_

Yori smirked at the note and put it back on the table. This was fine for her, she thought. No one around to make her feel doubt! Yori quickly gathered anything else she could possibly need: a few extra pencils, some paper, but after that Yori blanked. What could Nortia want to discuss that hasn't been already? What would she need that she doesn't have? These were all questions that were making Yori's head spin...

_Knock knock._

"Who is it?" Yori called out.

"Me," a familiar voice answered.

"Oh, Elric! Come in!"

Elric opened the front door and let himself in, noticing Yori was all by herself. He crossed his arms and looked all around.

"All by your lonesome today?"

"My parents went out somewhere. Anyway, shouldn't we head back over to see General Nortia?" 

"Indeed. That's why I came to check up on you." Elric uncrossed his arms, gesturing to the door.

"Antsy, are we? Did something happen between you and her last night?" Yori tilted her head, walking towards the door with him.

"I will tell you later," he said.

"Alright."

The two left the house and closed the door, locking it behind them. The sun was as bright as could be, with hardly a cloud in the sky. Yori was always at least somewhat superstitious. If the sun shines, then that day is probably going to be a good one. Elric was much less one to indulge in 'such tomfoolery' as he would describe it. However, there would always be a minor hesitation to walk underneath a ladder in the back of his mind. He would claim it's because he's taller than average and would hit his head, but Yori knew Elric better than that.

"Soooo," Yori said. "Are you gonna tell me what you and the General talked about yeeeet?" Yori was insatiably curious.

"It was not all fun and games, if that's what you're getting at." Elric chided her. 

"I never imagined that for a second! I was just curious about what she said. Was she positive? Negative? Commented on our teamwork?" 

"It was more her expressing her concerns about my enlistment." Elric answered, reluctantly.

"Did she tear into you or something?" Yori asked, concerned.

"You could say that. She and I had a diplomatic argument, you could say."

"Okay, now you  _have_ to tell me what happened."

Elric sighed. "Fine," he conceded.

**************************************************************************

 

_Yesterday._

“Inocencio, I hope you don’t plan on enlisting to make a mockery of me.”

Nortia had waited until the door closed completely to make her first comment. She didn't exactly want Yori to hear it, but if she did, it wasn't the end of the world.

“I dare not dream of the possibility."

Elric met Nortia's glare with the same poker face a professional might have. A face that spoke volumes of his resolve. Despite Elric sitting in a chair across from her desk, and Nortia standing and staring downward almost spitefully at him, Elric kept his cool. 

“I should hope not. It wouldn’t do well to try and disobey your superior before you’re even recruited.”

"Yes, General Nortia."

"You dare come into my office and tell me you have no intention on fighting, yet still you ask to join the  _army_ _?_ " 

"That is correct." Elric shifted in his seat.

"I don't think I need to lecture you on the definition of  _army_ now do I? What about  _war_ _?_ Do you honestly think that peace isn't the utmost priority of any good army?" Nortia had no intention on letting Elric get away.

"That won't be necessary. My talents don't lie in taking lives. I think--"

"Then elucidate me, Inocencio. You're a learned man, tell me how you intend to make yourself useful. Acrobatics can only take you so far in armed combat." Nortia wrapped her arms behind her back and began to pace side to side.

"You could pair me with Yori. A sniper needs a spotter. What better spotter than someone she knows and trusts? She doesn't specialize in close quarters combat. I can be trained to dispatch anyone attempting to flank her. On top of that, I've studied medical biology towards the end of my years of schooling. Perhaps you could make me a combat medic?"

Nortia stopped pacing and turned her attention back to Elric. Her gaze didn't lose any of its intimidation. 

"Oh?" Nortia asked, her curiosity piqued. 

"I really do love Yori like a friend. As much of a sharpshooter she is, I worry about her. I don't want her to get overwhelmed or lose hope. If I didn't follow her into the army alongside her, I could not imagine what might happen to her. I want to say I did my best to protect her."

"You two must be really close, I take it?" Nortia sat down in her chair, leaning back.

"You could say that."

Nortia paused to consider what Elric had said. Could she trust his judgment? She leaned forward, elbows on the table and hands folded to support her chin as she stared into Elric's eyes again. Her gaze fell down to his brooch which held his cape affixed to his shoulder. 

"Interesting, interesting..." Nortia trailed off.

Elric had hardly budged. He was so still, his muscles began to stiffen up.

"Inocencio," Nortia said suddenly. "You wish to be Yori's spotter and combat medic? You will also have to go through basic training just like anyone else. We have the capability to make you into a great soldier, assuming you are as you say."

"I would be incredibly foolish to lie to someone as powerful as you are."

"Yes, you would be. Now tell me, Elric. Will you ever kill anyone? For any reason?"

"No."

"What if they're going to kill Yori if you don't?"

"You assume killing is strictly necessary here. Lethal force is effective, yes, but what if it's unnecessary?"

"How can you, an untrained civilian, tell the difference between a situation where lethal force is required and where it isn't?"

"You're right. I wouldn't know. A soldier would."

"What makes you think I would take the risk in training a pacifist?"

Elric paused to reply, but Nortia didn't hear an answer quick enough for her liking. Nortia stood up from her chair again and leaned forward, her face only a few feet away from Elric. She gestured to the brooch on his shoulder.

"What is this symbol on your brooch? A family crest?" 

Elric glanced to his shoulder. He stared at the brooch: a red, oval shaped stone bearing a black dragon within. He paused briefly to remember its origin.

"It's from my parents. They--" 

"Where are your parents right now, Inocencio?" Nortia asked pointedly.

"Buried in the ground." Elric replied defensively.

"How did that happen?" 

"How is this relevant?" Elric stared back at her, bad memories resurfacing.

"They both died around the same time, did they not? Have you not considered the possibility they were murdered?" Nortia stated boldly.

"They might've been. What is your point?" Elric sniffled slightly.

"Self defense is legal, you know. If they were being attacked, they could've defended themselves. Let's imagine if they weren't pacifists like you. I think they'd still be around. They wouldn't have let themselves just get killed because they think it's wrong to protect themselves. Doesn't that make sense?"

Elric couldn't respond to that. He was too... shocked. He didn't know what else to feel aside from just... appalled.

"You're using my deceased parents as a tool to convince me that my world view is flawed?" 

"I used an example. Most people learn by examples."

"How... how dare you?" Elric asked, his hand clutching at his chest. His fingers ran along his shirt.

"If you're this upset already, you have no place in my army." Nortia stood and pointed towards the door. "You are dismissed."

Elric stood up to face her eye to eye.

"No. I'm not upset, just surprised is all. If my parents  _were_ murdered, then the burden is not on them. The victims are not who we blame, we blame the perpetrators. It would not by the fault of my parents for practicing pacifism, it would be the fault of whoever would do such a thing to them in the first place."

"That may be true, but it wouldn't save them." Nortia stopped pointing.

"I see what you're trying to do, General Nortia. You're attempting to get me to question my pacifism. The only question is whether or not you're trying to convince me against it or merely testing my resolve?"

Elric sat back down, feeling confident that he had just taken control of the situation again. Nortia sat down with him not long after. The two of them both crossed their arms, almost completely mirroring each other. Nortia stared for what seemed like an eternity, and Elric stared back. While Nortia was completely confident in her position, Elric was only superficially confident. 

 

"It's a win/win situation for me. Either you see things my way, or you prove me wrong."

"And proving you wrong would mean you're... winning?"

"It'd mean that I'm sitting across from a potentially desirable soldier. I have a proposal for you, Inocencio." Nortia leaned in closer. 

"Yes, General Nortia?"

"I will accept you into my army, but you must not only meet the expectations of all my other soldiers, but you must exceed them. For every kilometer they run, you will run one and a half. For every test we subject you to, we will only accept a perfect score. Is that clear?" 

Nortia's proposal was... hardly ideal, to say the least. Basic training was already bad enough, but this? It was an awkward situation, and--

"I'll do it." Elric blurted out.

"Excellent." Nortia leaned back into her chair. "You can come back with Yori tomorrow morning. We'll get started right away once you two arrive."

Nortia stood up and extended her arm, offering a handshake. Elric stood up moments later and grabbed her hand with his, shaking it firmly. Their gazes never faltered, not even for a second. Their eyes made contact, Elric afraid to break it too soon. After an extended pause, Elric let go of Nortia's arm and began walking out of her office. No door has felt heavier than this one, Elric thought to himself as he left. Once he was clear of her office, he let out a long sigh of relief.

 

**************************************************************************

"Elric, I had no idea she said those horrible things to you." Yori's hand covered her mouth.

"She's a general. What did you expect? She tests the meddle of her recruits." Elric sighed.

"Didn't it bother you? When she insulted your parents like that, made you agree to more work..."

"That's the army, Yori." 

Yori didn't have a response to that. What could she say? Not even she knew. 

"We're almost there." Elric broke the awkward silence. Despite his best attempts, Yori didn't want to speak. Why did he wait until now to tell her all of this? Why did he agree to that? Why her? These thoughts plagued her mind all the way up to the front entrance of the military base. Elric snapped his fingers as if Yori had been hypnotized.

"Yori, we're here." Elric said.

Yori shook her head and glanced all around. Maybe she really  _was_ hypnotized, she thought. After refocusing her eyes, she noticed something was going on inside the building. Past the lobby area she saw a few guards running. Where were they going? What for? She grabbed the door and swung it open, only to be stopped by a soldier at the front desk.

"Sir, ma'am, step away. We have an active intruder on the premises. No civilians are allowed inside until it's clear," the soldier commanded.

"What's going on?" Elric turned to Yori. The soldier at the desk shoved Elric and Yori outside of the building.

"There they are! After them!" a different soldier shouted from inside the building. His cry was met with a barrage of footsteps, which echoed in the hallway. 

Unfortunately, Elric and Yori were not allowed any further in to see just what was going on. An intruder, they both thought. Who would be intruding, and why? After what felt like an eternity, two soldiers emerged from the hallway, restraining someone. Perhaps it was the intruder mentioned earlier? Elric glanced at Yori.

"Do you recognize this person?"

"What makes you think I'd know who..." Yori trailed off. She recognized that face.

 

"Actually, I do. That's the weird person I met outside yesterday."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know very many people who would follow their friends into the army as a pacifist. I'm sure most generals would laugh those kinds of people out of their office, but maybe Nortia sees something in Elric?


	5. Opportunity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Nortia gets dunked on.

"Yori," Elric took a breath. "Just how do you know this person? This person that's actively being restrained by armed soldiers?"

"Don't act like I somehow knew this was going to happen! I just saw them outside yesterday, that's all. I met them for like, ten seconds!" Yori retorted.

Before either could take a closer look inside, a soldier at the front desk walked up to the doorway with hand outstretched. "I'm going to need both of you to step far away, now. This is an active investigation! No civilians allowed!" The soldier sealed both front doors and stepped away, locking Elric and Yori outside. The two of them stood there, baffled. Elric stared forward at the door while Yori's gaze met her own two feet, kicking at the ground beneath her. Just then, she heard some shouting and pressed her ear up against the frame. She could just barely make out some words, but not all of them. Elric glanced to his side, smirking.

"Insatiably curious?"

Yori quickly shushed Elric, not even bothering to respond with proper words. Her ear twitched and wiggled.

_"Criminal... What do we do...?"_

_"Just wait... general. She'll handle it."_

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. The heavy footfall ceased.

_"I'll take... here. Handcuffs..."_

"Yori," Elric interjected. "What do you hear?"

"I think they're bringing them somewhere. It sounds like... Nortia? I think she just showed up and..."

_Stomp stomp. Stomp stomp. Two footfalls._

"I think Nortia took them somewhere. Wow, that was... fast." Yori said.

And just like that, the doors opened in front of Yori. She quickly fell to the ground flat on her face with a loud "Oof!"

"Er, ma'am?" A concerned soldier asked. Unfortunately for him, he opened the door. "Here, give me your hand."

Yori reached upward, blindly flailing for his hand. She helped herself up and dusted herself off, blushing furiously. Elric looked away, covering his eyes in embarrassment. The soldier shrugged.

"If you two are here for Nortia," the soldier said. "She's busy."

Elric asked, "How long will she be busy?"

"It's hard to say, but you're welcome to sit in the waiting area until she's back." The soldier gestured to a couple of wooden chairs sat up against the wall. Elric and Yori wordlessly walked over and sat down, taking in the lobby once again.

Not much had changed since last time they were here. The lobby was still impressive, yet authoritative. This time around, Yori noticed a wall mounted clock with a swinging pendulum. This caught her attention immediately as she watched it swing. Elric's gaze wandered all around the room. His breaths were shallow at first, but he soon relaxed. Yori, on the other hand, was breathing coolly.

Yori's attention slowly waned from the clock, and now had to find something else to distract herself with. She glanced downwards at the floor. There were signs of a struggle, it looked like. Yori noticed scuff marks on the floor and a slightly wrinkled carpet, but nothing major. Whatever skirmish there was here, it was over quickly. This must have been very exciting, Yori thought. Unlike what's going on right now.

Yeah, Yori was bored out of her mind already.

"Of course someone would pull something stupid on today of all days." Yori complained, crossing her arms and slouching in her seat.

"Maybe it's a sign." Elric joked, half serious.

"A sign?"

"You can still back out, you know. You can just walk home anytime you want, and I'll follow you."

"No thanks, I'm good." Yori sat up straight, arms still crossed. Elric sighed.

The two sat in silence for what felt like hours. Yori looked at the clock she fixated on earlier. Only fifteen minutes had passed, much to Yori's boredom. She began to wonder what was going on in Nortia's office. Was she interrogating the intruder?

**************************************************************************

"Tell me your name, first and foremost."

General Nortia sat at her desk, hands folded on top of each other, elbows resting on the desktop. She leaned forward, staring at her 'guest', who was handcuffed behind their back and tied to a chair. The tied up intruder stared back, daring not to blink first in front of her.

"Charlie," they said.

"Charlie's a good name." Nortia commented.

Charlie didn't move at all. Their eyes never broke contact with Nortia's. Despite their constraints, Charlie was rather comfortable. They dressed in loose-fitting clothes: a jacket and pants. Nothing too distinct. The extra thickness of the jacket helped soften the tight restraints.

"Tell me, Charlie, what were you after? Military secrets? If so, my office sounds like a good place to start. You wouldn't come here if you didn't want weapons, nor would you come here if you wanted to draw attention to yourself. Clearly, you came here either to take something or to find me. Which is it?" Nortia pressed.

"Well, it's certainly one or the other." Charlie sighed.

Nortia frowned, letting her hands rest flat on the desk. She leaned in closer, Charlie didn't.

"I'm not sure you fully understand your situation, Charlie--"

"I don't think you do either. You captured me, but you're desperate to know how this even happened at all. A proud military general, lauded for her strong leadership and her even stronger security. Despite all that, someone broke right into your office of all places. No wonder you wanted to interrogate me for yourself." Charlie shifted a little in their seat.

"Interesting. You're not easily intimidated, it seems." Nortia conceded. "I'll tell you what, Charlie. If you can tell me how you broke into my office--"

"Which time?" Charlie interrupted.

"I beg your pardon?" Nortia asked, confused.

"This isn't even my first time."

"How many times have you done this?"

"This is my second."

Nortia paused briefly. For the first time in years, Nortia began to sweat, even just a little bit. Charlie broke the silence.

"Clearly it wasn't a fluke. I could do this all over again if I wanted to."

"Not with those restraints, you can't." Nortia retorted.

"Don't make it three times, now." Charlie smirked.

Nortia didn't respond. She sat quietly and thought her next words very carefully. Her gaze never left Charlie's, but it also didn't carry the same intimidation it once did. On the other hand, Charlie's gaze grew more confident and intense with each passing minute.  
"It would be foolish to let you go, that much is clear. That's why I want you to serve in my army."

Charlie didn't respond. Their gaze morphed from a smug smirk to a more neutral expression. Nortia's face slowly regained its confidence.

"This wasn't a question, this was an order. You will serve in my army as a specialist. No one has been able to break into my office in twenty years. You're talented, that much is clear. Why would I throw away such a talented infiltrator when I could have them serve directly underneath me? Of course, you would be under heavy observation and escorted by armed soldiers," she explained.

"How, exactly, would I be able to infiltrate when I'm supposed to be under constant surveillance?" Charlie asked.

"You'd be given just enough freedom to do what you must, but no more. You'll operate on a strict timetable, and any deviations will be met with punishing force."

"Why don't you just throw me in jail or something?" Charlie rolled their eyes.

Nortia leaned in closer, a hint of a smirk forming on her face as she did. "I want to know where you are twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Jail would never hold you back anyway; I can tell."

"You could just execute me. You're so adamant about this arrangement, yet I haven't even agreed to it. Are you that confident I'll say yes?"

Silence. Nortia leaned back in her chair, but Charlie leaned in closer.

"No," Nortia said. "I'm not confident you'll say yes. I just _know_ you'll say yes."

"How, exactly?" Charlie asked.

"Execution would be unfitting for someone like you. However, I wouldn't hesitate to do what I must to protect this country and its people. No one lives to my age without understanding the harsh realities of our world."

"And those harsh realities would be something along the lines of 'for the greater good'?"

Nortia nodded. "This is my job, after all. I've sworn to uphold my vow to this great nation and the Queen. I've sworn to protect Her Majesty with my own life if need be. I don't like to react to threats: I prefer to be proactive."

"So what exactly are the active threats that you're so worried about? A threat so large that you'd recruit a criminal immediately because you believe it'd be your safer option?" Charlie pressed for more information.

"I suppose you're deserving of that amount of information. After all, either you join me or you'll take this briefing to the grave. To put it simply, we have intelligence stating that the current president of Catol is betraying her people. Her name is President Calum Algolin. Have you heard of the thieves guild that has been plaguing our country?"

"I have."

"Well, we managed to capture a thief belonging to the guild. We brought this to Calum's attention, but it was quickly dismissed. Suspicious does not begin to describe her behavior."

"And you want me to spy on her and connect the dots?" Charlie questioned.

"Indeed." Nortia sat forward and folded her hands on top of each other. "The more we know, the better. I've been hesitant to fish for more information due to the political controversy this could cause if a Sabinese spy were apprehended. Surely you understand?"

"I do."

"Then I should think you agree to my offer?" Nortia smirked again.

"...I accept your offer, General."

Nortia extended her hand. Charlie couldn't because of, well, handcuffs.

"Oh, right." Nortia chuckled to herself. "Let's just pretend we shook on it," she said, putting her hand away.

"You're not even going to ask how your President Algolin story won me over?"

"No, it doesn't matter how. All I care about is that it did. I'll be putting you through great endeavors to prove your loyalty to me from here on out before I allow you any sort of free reign. You'll have to earn your independence through good behavior." Nortia explained.

"And you're not at all concerned that I might try something funny?" Charlie asked.

"Oh, I am. But what better way is there to keep an eye on you than being escorted by armed soldiers constantly? As I said, your skills are too invaluable to throw into an unmarked grave."

"Is that so?"

"It is. Now, I'll have my guards escort you to your chambers. It's more of a cell, really. You'll be handcuffed in there as well. Precautions are necessary, do try to understand." Nortia stepped away from her desk and opened her door, motioning for two guards to enter her office. In doing so, they grabbed Charlie and untied them from the chair, keeping the cuffs on. Grabbing Charlie in either arm, they began to strong-arm them out and away.

**************************************************************************

Almost an hour had passed. Elric sat straight up with great posture, while Yori was slouched against his shoulder, slightly dozing off. A faraway door was kicked open, followed by several pairs of stomps on the ground. This jolted Yori awake, causing her to sit up straight with her ears perked. Elric's were much less so, but he was still just as startled.

"Do you think that was Nortia?" Yori asked.

"Shh, here they come now." Elric responded.

In front of them, Elric and Yori saw two soldiers nearly dragging Charlie away. One arm was wrapped around underneath each of Charlie's armpits, locking them in place. As the guards walked forward, Charlie only saw what was behind them as they were dragged backward. Yori's curiosity overcame her as she immediately jumped out of her chair, circling behind the soldiers and in front of Charlie.

"You're that person I saw yesterday," Yori started. "Who... who are you?"

The guards stopped in their tracks, turning around to face Yori.

"Ma'am," one said. "Don't hassle the new recruit."

"I don't think that's supposed to be public knowledge," the other said.

"Recruit...?" Yori was even more curious now. However, the guards didn't answer, instead deciding to just continue their business as if nothing happened. They marched onward down another hallway until they were out of sight. Yori stomped her feet in frustration, causing Elric to stand up out of his seat.

"Relax. This isn't our concern. Perhaps we should focus on our more immediate issue, yes? Meeting with the general?" Elric suggested.

"Yeah, you're right. It's just..." Yori bit her lip. "I just want to know what their deal is!"

"I know, I know. Let's go see Nortia before she thinks we're no-shows."

Yori let out a sigh and began walking down the nearest hallway towards them. Remembering the directions Nortia gave them last time, the two found themselves right outside her door. Elric took the initiative and knocked on it, his knuckles resonating with the heavy wood.

"Come in," her voice called out.

Elric's hand wrapped around the golden doorknob, turning it slowly and opening the door. He gestured at Yori for her to enter first, but she shook her head. Elric shrugged. He walked in first, Yori immediately behind him. Nortia sat at her desk as she usually did, leaning back with one leg wrapped around the other at the knee.

"Ah, it's you two. I was expecting you. Thank you for your patience; something important came up and had to be dealt with promptly." Nortia explained.

"Oh! Don't worry at all." Yori said enthusiastically.

"Please, take a seat." Nortia motioned towards the two chairs in front of her desk. Elric and Yori both sat down. Elric sat with his back pressed up against the banister, while Yori sat forward with her hands in between her thighs. Nortia uncrossed her legs and leaned forward.

"So," Nortia broke the silence. "I take it that you two are committed to becoming recruits? You swear to pledge your loyalty to me, your country, and the crown?"

Yori nodded. "Of course!"

"I do, too." Elric was less enthusiastic.

"Then I don't see much reason to delay. Your applications checked out, but more importantly, you've already proven yourselves to me. After all, I _do_ have the final say when it comes to applicants." Nortia slid two pieces of paper on the desk towards Elric and Yori, along with feather pens dipped in ink. "Just sign these and you two will be official recruits. Once you do, you may return home and gather any belongings or say your goodbyes. Just remember basic training will last at least six months but could be as long as a year depending on your skill level and dedication. Have I made myself clear?"

Yori had already grabbed her pen and looked at the verbose paper in front of her. All she saw at the bottom was, "I, the undersigned, declare myself fit and capable to swear myself to Queen and Country." Yori signed the paper and passed it back to Nortia. Elric took a little bit longer to sign, opting to read the form in its entirety. Once he was finished, he passed the paper back to Nortia, who collected both and filed them away neatly.

"Congratulations, you two are now officially privates of my army. From here on, you will be Private Inocencio and Private Bellevoir." Nortia stood up and extended her hand to Yori first.

"Thank you, ma'am." Yori shook her hand.

"I look forward to seeing you both once you've returned." Nortia turned her gaze to Elric, along with her outstretched hand.

"Likewise," Elric shook Nortia's hand firmly.

"You two are dismissed for now. Return home and come back and meet me here in three hours. Failure to do so will be met with harsh punishment. Is that clear?"

Elric and Yori nodded. Without another word, Elric quickly excused himself from the general's office, Yori following suit. She closed the door behind them and followed him down the hallway.

"So, what now?" She asked.

"I'll be heading to my home, you should too. I'm sure your parents would appreciate seeing you once more." Elric responded.

"Yeah... I just mean, it feels so surreal. I don't think this whole thing has really hit me yet."

"It will soon, I'm sure of it."

Yori continued walking on. Was she nervous? Of course. Did she have any doubts that this was the right thing to do? No. She finally felt as if she found her calling, something she'd be good at.

Today's the day everything changes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Wanna see me break into your office?"
> 
> "..."
> 
> "Wanna see me do it again?"


	6. Rather Dashing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Calina fucks up her stew.

Meanwhile.

“Hmmm. Hmm... Oh, yeah! I bet I look cool as hell in this.”

“Ain’t exactly every day you come across a suitcase in the woods full of sick clothes, but I guess today’s my lucky day.” 

And what a lucky day it was! The young woman had been running out of fresh clothes for weeks now. In her giddiness, she spent the last half hour trying on as much as she possibly could, seeing what sort of styles she could pull off. On top of her usual cropped jacket, shirt, jeans, and shoes, she had found a top hat, a suit jacket, bow tie, and a cane. No one had ever called her 'dapper' before, but hey! First time for everything, right? She turned back towards the suitcase and found a relatively clean miniskirt. Holding it in both hands about an arm’s length away, she examined it closely. It was short, but she could live with that. Black with a light gray line going across the bottom horizontally, yeah this could work!

“Hmm. Hope it’s my size.” She said, slipping it over her jeans. It didn’t take long for them to slide off of her body disappointingly. However, this wouldn’t stop her. She thought she saw a belt somewhere in this suitcase. Diving back in, she found one that matched the accent on her miniskirt. She quickly wrapped it around her waist and fastened it with the belt. To her surprise, she found that it worked perfectly well. It was unusual fashion for her, but she lived with what she could scavenge.

After all, when you live by yourself in the woods, you live with what you can get your hands on. 

“Wish I had a mirror or somethin’. Probably could just walk into a nearby town and ask what people think of my sick threads.” Calina began to twirl the black cane in her hand, spinning it in circles in front of her. She hummed what she thought would make for a good showtune, admiring her dashing appearance. She liked the aesthetics of the jacket she found, but it didn't quite mesh with her usual style. 

At that moment, she heard something. It sounded like shouting.

“Over there! Looks like someone stole our clothes! Get her!” The voice echoed in the distance. Another voice joined in, “Give them back you freeloading bandit!” 

“Oh, crap.” she dropped the cane she just picked up. Calina quickly spun around in the opposite direction and made haste as fast as she could. She was intimately familiar with these woods, so she had no issue dodging trees or fallen branches. On top of that, she had a little extra gift on her side. “Bet you can’t catch me when I do _this_ , suckers!” Calina taunted her pursuers.

Calina closed her eyes. She concentrated her breathing and after precisely five seconds, she ducked into a nearby bush. Laying perfectly still, she waited for her pursuers to run past her completely. She waited an extra five minutes to be absolutely certain they were gone. Once she was convinced, she got out of the bush and dusted herself off. The coast was clear, or at least it seemed that way. 

"Suckerrrrrrs." Calina blew raspberries and made a hissing face. “Love you, affinity of mine~. Calina, your natural camouflage is the BEST!” She began to kiss the back of her hands, as if they had something to do with it, or could appreciate affection. As Calina turned around, she realized she wasn’t alone anymore. It turns out she hadn’t exactly lost her pursuers, at least not all of them. Standing in front of her now was a man who was easily taller and larger than her. 

“Calina, was it?” He asked, noticing she was wearing his clothes. 

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out. Anyway, guessing you want your clothes back?” She crossed her arms.

“Well, that is my favorite top hat, jacket, and bow tie. Look, I won’t hurt you or anything, just give them back, okay?” The man held out his hand. Calina sighed, taking off all of his favorite clothes and handing them over. All she had left was her same old outfit. Boring old jacket, pants, and shoes. 

“The skirt and the belt, too.” he held out his hand again. 

“Fffffffffuck.” She muttered, undoing her belt and handing it and the skirt over.

“Was that so hard? Chin up, girl. Just contribute to society and maybe you’ll be able to afford nicer clothes than… whatever that is.” The man donned his top hat and planted his cane in the ground. 

“Hey! I’m no girl, I’m 18, thank you very much.” Calina huffed.

“Same difference. Anyway, I’ll be off. Don’t follow me, got it?” He pointed his cane at her chest. 

Calina eyed the cane, then the man in front of her. She quickly grabbed the cane with both hands, wrestling it from his grip. With a quick whack at his wrist, she knocked the skirt out of his hands and snatched it away. Before the man could even react, she already had a headstart.

“So long, suckerrrrrrrr! Ahahaha!” Calina spun around and blew raspberries at him, skirt in tow. The man attempted to give chase, but realized it was no use. He had only managed to outpace her in the woods, but he had no hope out here. He stopped short and huffed loudly. 

"You'll pay for this, you no-good freeloader!"He kicked the dirt below and waddled away slowly. "I'll buy another," he mumbled.

A half hour later, Calina was finally satisfied that she had lost his trail. She had long since cleared the open plains, and was now in her usual neck of the woods. Literally. She lived in the woods. 

“Home sweet…” she said, noticing her tent was covered in leaves. Calina just let out a sigh. Her one little place in the world, covered in leaves. It was undignified. She knew she’d have to clean it up, but whatever. Stepping closer, she unzipped the front and climbed inside. 

It was hardly a mansion of a tent, but it was roomy enough for her. She could lay down comfortably along the length of the tent, and the width was nothing to scoff at either. Overall, it blended in well with the surrounding environment. No one has ever given her any problems here, so she just stays here. The entire outside surrounding the tent was covered in leaves, much like the top of it. She had thought the rounded top of the tent would ward off piles of leaves, but to her dismay it didn’t stack up so well. She just assumed it was because of whatever sticky bullshit was coming out of the trees nearby that caused them to stay. 

Calina sprawled out in her tent as much as she could. She made sure not to hit her pair of butterfly swords next to her. They were her pride and joy, each one holding an embedded jewel in the handle. She risked a lot just to get a hold of these things for good. They were her preferred method of self defense, and still are to this day. Aside from that, Calina also had a patchwork sleeping bag, some ragged clothes she no longer wore, plus a couple of spoils from her frequent outings. These spoils would include random, yet useful items such as tea bags, canned food, utensils, and some other knickknacks. Alongside her swords, she had a few toys such as a paddle ball, a deck of cards, and a stuffed bear. It had a name, not that she'd ever tell you. It's Cuddles. Cuddles the Bear. 

“Well, today was productive. Got me a skirt and a belt, plus my house is still intact. Got that going for me. Ain’t that right, reddy and bluey?” She patted the handles of her swords. As she began to close her eyes, she thought more about her future. Where she was going, what she wanted to do with her life. Could she ever live in a regular society? She hadn’t known anything like it for long, but…

“Crap! My stew!” Calina jerked forward, practically crawling out of her tent.

Behind her tent lay a relatively small crock pot. In it she had all the ingredients for a stew she had been simmering all day. She had been looking forward to it for so long, but unfortunately, it simmered too long. What was supposed to look like a hearty combination of assorted meats and vegetables looked like a congealed concoction of mystery meat and disease ridden greens. Any semblance of edibility has flown out of the window so hard it not only broke the glass, but also the sound barrier.

“Nooooooo… I was really looking forward to that…” Calina muttered to herself, hanging her head in shame. It seemed Calina would be stuck with regular, old apples for just a little while longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Calina's the kind of person who'd marinate a steak in boiled milk and call it delicious.


	7. Training Montage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Elric gets new threads, Yori socializes, and Charlie unsocializes.

_One month later..._

Midday. Not a cloud in the sky. Not a breeze dared to disturb the serenity of the training grounds. A lone markswoman lay on her stomach, finger on the trigger of her rifle. Downrange was a series of red and white targets with concentric circles leading towards the center. Behind them was a chain link fence, reinforced with steel and angled downwards to deflect any potential ricochet from a stray shot. If a bullet had to fly anywhere, the ground is certainly better than fleshy, furry people. 

The sun shone brilliantly, giving Yori complete visibility. There was absolutely no movement within 10 meters of her person. Not a bug, not a bird, and not a person to disturb her. The training ground was eerily empty, but to Yori, this would be the perfect time to practice her concentration. Having fewer distractions made lining up shots that much easier. 

"Distance... 500 meters. No wind to account for. Now to line the shot..." Yori's tongue slid between her lips, resting on the left side. She slowed her breathing and when the time was right...

_Pow!_

Yori pulled herself away from the scope, admiring her accuracy. Another direct hit. She could hear the sound of a pencil on paper behind her. She hadn't noticed their presence before, but now she did. She got up from the ground and dusted herself off.

"Hey, Skylar," Yori said.

"Heya," he said back. In front of Yori stood an average height Creaden. He wore a pair of round glasses and always carried a pen and paper around, somehow finding the time to make notes about everything he saw. "That's your tenth bullseye in a row, and you've only fired ten shots. How do you do it?" 

"Concentration, dedication, passion..." Yori counted with her fingers. 

"Yeah yeah, sure. I mean like, do you take anything that enhances your aim? Makes you more focused? Stops your hands from shaking?" Skylar insisted.

"Wh-what?" Yori was baffled. "I don't do any of that stuff, this is how I work. I wouldn't even know where to find that kind of thing anyway." 

"And you're certain of this?" Skylar insisted once more.

"I think I would know if I took drugs, Skylar." Yori was getting defensive. She typically had her rifle on a sling, which kept her rifle at her back. However, she opted to hold it in front of her with her hands. 

"You're right. Pardon my insistence." He said, definitely not sorry for his insistence. 

"Oh, it's fine. I don't think I'm _that_ fantastic anyway. I've seen some real sharpshooters who can do what I did, but much faster." 

Skylar knew this was a good place to end the conversation. "That's... that's enough. I don't need that lecture again, thank you." He put his pen and paper away in different pockets of his uniform. "Take care now, Yori. Oh, and say hi to Smellric for me, okay?"

"Don't call him that," Yori said, in between chuckles. 

Skylar carried on with his business, walking down the training grounds to find new targets to either take notes of or berate. Or both. Sometimes he did both. Yori decided to regain her focus and resume her sniping training. She turned around and laid back on her stomach, gun pointed downrange. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes to regain her composure. Counting to ten, focusing on the targets. Yori was back in the zone. Her breathing was relaxed, yet controlled. Her body was firm, yet loose. Opening her eyes, Yori gripped her gun once again when a familiar voice called out. 

"Yoooohoooo! Phantom Haaaaaaawk!" 

Yori rolled her eyes, dusting herself off and standing back up straight once again. This time, she slung her rifle around her back. 

"It's me, Black Crow!" She shouted.

"Yes, I know who you are, Annma. We're friends." Yori said, as friendly as she could. 

"Just making sure you know that! Also, call me Black Crow, or just Crow. Not Annma." 

"Okay, Crow. Anyway, I thought you were supposed to be one of General Nortia's elite specialists? You know, the types that are usually known for their... furtiveness? For being subdued?"

"Listen, Yori," Crow said. "I can be that way when it matters. Does it matter right now? Hell no! Therefore, I'm gonna be my energetic self!"

"Energetic, huh? I thought only Simenti could have energy based affinities?" Yori sounded smug.

"Look at you, wise girl. Still no affinity, yet you're policing my own?" Annma said, pointedly.

"Sorry, I was trying to make a joke." She backed off.

"Oh, haha. I see." Annma scratched her chin. "Hey, Yori! If you wanted an affinity so bad, why don'tcha try looking for one of them religious rocks? You know the ones?"

Yori chuckled. "You mean the legendary gemstones? Yes, I've read all about them; I actually have a book at home that goes at length describing them. How they're the physical manifestation of the gods powers, how they once bestowed affinities to people in old times, how they one day disappeared, just like the gods... It's all so haunting, isn't it? The gods granted both Simenti and Creaden these gifts, then the gods disappeared. We still had the gemstones, but those too faded away, lost to history. No one even knows if they're still around, let alone if they even existed, to begin with."

"Yikes. I forgot how you can ramble. Let's pretend I didn't say that, okay?" Annma complained.

As she said that, a fellow trainee ran over to Yori and Crow. He drew his attention to Crow and said with a sly smirk, "General Nortia needs you. At once." 

"Oh come _on_. You're screwing with me, aren't you? You heard what I said and now you're trying to be funny, huh?" Crow snapped. 

"Hah, I wish. Here, it's a written summons. You know how she gets." 

The soldier handed Crow a written letter of summons, addressed to her. Her tightened grip nearly tore the paper into shreds. After taking a deep breath and collecting her thoughts, she smiled once again and glanced at Yori. 

"Catch ya later, Phantom Hawk!" Crow began to trot along towards Nortia's office.

"Just Yori is..." She trailed off. Crow was already too far away to hear her. "Yori's fine." She whispered to herself. "Anyway, I should really focus before I get distracted again." 

"Are... are you talking to yourself?" The soldier asked.

Yori realized he was still here, staring at her uncomfortably. She felt too awkward to speak, and so did he. Yori coughed. He coughed too. 

"You're waiting for an answer, aren't you? You're not gonna let me get out of this awkward situation with my dignity intact?"

"Nnnnnnnope."

Yori's hands both found their way onto her face, covering not only her eyes but her embarrassment as well. Dragging her palms downward, her eyes rolled upwards. If the gods really did exist, they had better help her out. 

**************************************************************************

Elric stood in a large, grassy field. Wearing his military uniform, the most fashionable outfit he's ever had on, Elric repeatedly stomped the ground with his right foot. Over, and over, and over again. Each stomp generated a circular shaped disc which was forced upwards from the ground, levitating in front of him briefly before falling back down. He began to sweat and pant, wiping his brow with his sleeve. He unbuttoned one of his breast pockets and unraveled a rag, wiping his forehead. 

"Private Inocencio, I didn't tell you to stop!" His instructor barked.

"...Apologies." Elric said.

He, like many other recruits, had been tasked with 'affinity drills'. Affinity drills were a series of tests designed to enhance and improve a person's natural affinity strength. It varied from individual to individual, but no matter what kind of affinity you have, it could always be trained. Training could be turned into a regimen. A regimen could yield results. These drills were only mandatory for those who have an affinity, of course. Drills were typically very personal, as they should be. Affinities manifested uniquely in every individual, but they all share similar roots. For example, Elric's affinity is earth based. His instructor also had an earth-based affinity. While their affinities may have manifested differently, they both shared an elemental basis. It'd be like having a flute teacher instruct a student on how to play the oboe. While the instruments themselves differ, they would both be woodwinds that play the same clef. Some concepts applied to both instruments, but not all. The student would then learn to grow as an individual and experiment freely.

"Your uptime has improved significantly, but the size of your discs has decreased by almost 20%. They can still hold your weight, but it would be preferable if you could hold the weight of two people on a larger disc. Better yet, being able to manifest two floating discs simultaneously would be spectacular. However, you have only managed to improve how long these discs can stay airborne. While a 10-second to 20-second increase is substantial, it needs more work." The officer scribbled on a notepad.

"I am doing my best, sir."

"Evidently not, you should've been able to do this a week ago. Are you holding back on purpose?"

"No, sir."

"Perhaps I should tell General Nortia of your stagnating progress? Perhaps that would convince her to throw you out once and for all, hm?" The officer tapped his pencil against his notepad with a wry smirk. 

"That... that won't be necessary. I only need one accommodation, that is all. However, I would need General Nortia's permission." Elric explained.

"Permission...? For what?" The officer asked.

"Uniform modification."

Elric glanced back down at his uniform, taking it all in once again. He was wearing a green shirt with long sleeves, a sleeveless jacket with a camouflage pattern, dark green trousers, and black shoes. As standard as military uniforms get. It was restrictive and difficult to maneuver in. He had earned himself the title of "feat feet," either in earnest or in jest. It was factual, given his ability to create floating platforms made of earth by stomping on the ground, but at the same time... Feat feet. The odds were already stacked against Elric, having to perform more rigorous trials than all the other trainees. The addition of a code name that only works when written, not spoken, was more salt in the wound. 

"I don't see a reason to deny your request. I'll go ask for Nortia now. Stay here, Feat Feet." 

The officer quickly spun around and began to walk off. He had been trying to hold back a chuckle but was unable to contain his laughter. He snorted, wiping a tear from his eye. Elric had most definitely heard the chuckle, but what could he have done? He was certainly in no place to argue anything. 

Not much later, the officer returned to General Nortia. Her arms crossed behind her back, she walked with the confidence a general of her caliber should have. 

"You requested a uniform modification, Pvt. Inocencio?" General Nortia asked.

"I did, ma'am." Elric saluted. The left side of his right hand lay against his forehead, his posture straightened, and his body tightened. 

"Speak up, then. I'm busy with other work."

"I'd like to request permission to exchange my pants for shorts, General Nortia," Elric asked.

"...I beg your pardon?" She said, confused.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, it is incredibly difficult to perform leg based maneuvers with a tight pair of pants. I would perform much more efficiently if my legs were not fighting the resistance in my pants."

Just then, the officer began to chuckle audibly. His eyes teared up more than they had in the last month. Nortia and Elric stared at the officer, who quickly regained his composure. 

"I see," General Nortia's hand rubbed her chin. "You raise a good point, but unfortunately we don't have any uniform-grade shorts available."

"Ma'am, is there anything I can do in the meantime?" Elric asked.

Nortia sighed, letting her hands rest behind her back again. "Do what you will, I have some work to attend to." 

"Thank you, ma'am." Elric watched Nortia walk away.

"Sooooo..." The officer broke the silence. "What do you plan on doing, Private?"

"May I borrow your survival knife, sir?" Elric extended his hand.

"My knife...? What do you plan on... ohhhhh." The officer unlatched his knife from his holster, handing the grip to Elric.

"If you'll excuse me..." Elric took the knife and found the nearest bush to duck behind. He measured a point right above his knees and marked it using his knife, cutting the fabric just a little on both legs. He fumbled with his belt before removing his pants, just out of sight of anyone nearby. Laying the pants on the grass, he began to cut along his prior markings until the bottom half of his pants was torn off. With a content sigh, Elric put his "pants" back on, discarding the excess fabric. He then emerged from the bush, victorious with his newly acquired shorts. It was a patchwork job, the cuts he made were imperfect and that much was clear. Some threads hung loose, the line he cut along was curvy and inconsistent, and one leg was slightly longer than the other. 

"Are you serious?" The officer asked, mouth agape. "Nortia would _never_ allow that! It looks so..."

Elric interrupted the officer with a stomp on the ground. In doing so, a disc launched from the ground 1 meter into the air. Moreover, the disc was significantly larger than his prior attempts today. After just 20 seconds, the disc fell into the ground once more, where it belonged.

"Practical?" Elric said, smugly.

"I was going to say stupid. It's still stupid, even if it works."

"I will take functionality over design any day. Now, shouldn't we resume the regimen, Major Dick?" Elric asked.

"I told you to call me Major Dickard, Inocencio. One more wise comment from you and I'll have the general tear those shorts in half."

**************************************************************************

The prisoner sat alone in a cold, dark room. It was inaccurate to describe it as a "room," it was more like a makeshift jail cell with more furnishing. There was a single chair, a window with metal bars running from top to bottom, a bed with a thin pillow and an even thinner blanket, and a small mat that barely covered the floor. Light barely filtered into this hellhole. A permanent drip of water rhythmically splashed the same spot. On a good day, it smelled like an agitated skunk. On a bad day, it smelled like an agitated skunk that had been trampled to death a week ago. Fortunately, Charlie had grown accustomed to these sensations. At first, it wore on them, but now it was just to be expected. 

Sitting in the chair with their hands cuffed in front of them on their lap, Charlie waited patiently for their escorting officers to arrive. Charlie was used to this routine by now: the door opens, Charlie is led out and escorted somewhere. Sometimes to Nortia's office, other times to practice infiltration drills. There wasn't really much else to do besides sit and wait for further instruction, especially when handcuffed and locked away. Just then, Charlie could hear footsteps approaching their cell. Right on schedule, they thought.

"You know, I _really_ don't have to be cuffed 24/7," Charlie complained.

"Listen, Glass Fox, this is for our safety. General Nortia still doesn't trust you one bit. Can't exactly have soldiers dying on her watch cause she didn't handcuff someone." The officer said.

"You have to let me free at some point. I could just be waiting until then to make my move."

"And that's why Nortia requested two of us. One of whom is trained with a firearm. Say hello, Major Lyra."

The officer behind the first one waved the barrel of his pistol in the air. 

"I've behaved perfectly since I was recruited. Does the general still not trust me enough to at least not have _two_ guards escort me?" Charlie was annoyed.

"She trusts you enough not to strangle us with just the chain between the two cuffs. That's pretty good, I'd say." The officer smirked.

Major Lyra opened Charlie's cell door with a key. He walked inside and grabbed Charlie by the arm, dragging them out. Together, both officers began to escort Charlie off the military base. Neither officer nor Charlie spoke a word to each other the entire way, nor did they make eye contact with anyone else. They certainly managed to turn some heads, but never engaged them. This was all song and dance for the three of them by now. Charlie knew better than to agitate their direct superiors, especially when one of them had a loaded gun pointed at their back. Lyra had made it clear from the very beginning he was looking for the first excuse to plant a bullet in the back of Charlie's skull. Playing it cool was their only choice, lest they incur Lyra's trigger finger.

Before long, the guards had managed to bring Charlie to a nondescript building about a ten-minute march from the base. Charlie had never seen this place before, despite it being so close. Just then, Charlie had considered a sickening possibility. What if Nortia had ordered two of her officers to send Charlie on a suicide mission? Or worse yet, kill them somewhere no one would check? Charlie shooed that possibility away. Their value to Nortia is too great for her to waste. 

"What is this place?" Charlie asked the guards.

"General Nortia believes there to be a member of the vicious thieves guild hiding inside of here. She heard reports of a petty thief that someone positively identified as a member of the guild. She wants you to infiltrate this building and apprehend the potential suspect."

"No, I mean what _is_ this building? Is it an abandoned warehouse? It looks... unfinished." Charlie commented.

"It was meant to be a warehouse, yes, but construction was halted. It's structurally sound but almost entirely empty. There are only two floors. It shouldn't take you long to find anyone inside of there and report back to us within ten minutes. Understood?" 

"Am I supposed to bring back a dead body? Just the head?" They asked.

"Uhh, I didn't think of that, actually. I think Nortia would be satisfied with bringing the thief in alive, if possible. Then again, a dead thief is just as fine. Do what you have to do, I suppose." The officer shrugged.

"Understood. Let me go and I'll get started right away."

Major Lyra kept his gun pointed right at the back of Charlie's head. The other officer undid Charlie's handcuffs, letting them fall to the ground below. With freed hands, Charlie leaped into action. They jumped onto a series of wooden crates which led up to the second floor. Charlie was now within reach of a window, which was thankfully unlocked. They slid it up, allowing just enough room to squeeze in. As they did, they landed feet first onto a metal catwalk, which extended the entire interior perimeter of the unused warehouse. The second floor turned out to just be the suspended catwalk. From there, one could look down at the first floor and see almost everything. 

Charlie turned around and closed the window, beginning to crouch walk around quietly. If there was someone in here, it was well and truly hard to tell. There were absolutely no signs of life at all, just metal and some scattered wood. Charlie poked their head over the guardrail of the catwalk and scanned the ground floor, finding nobody. All of a sudden, Charlie heard what sounded like a footstep on broken glass. They spun around quickly, alert and on guard. Charlie removed their survival knife from their holster, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Charlie heard another noise coming from behind again. Charlie turned around--

"Glass Fox. Is that what they call you now?"

Charlie's eyes widened. In front of them stood a middle-aged Creaden woman. She crossed her arms, smug that she managed to outwit General Nortia's finest.

"I was told there was a member of the guild in here, but instead it's just you," Charlie replied, holstering their knife. 

"It's _just_ me? How rude! I am more than 'just' anyone!" 

"You're right, my apologies. I assume you're the 'petty thief' I was told about?"

"Indeed I am!" The woman smirked. "It wasn't hard to pickpocket someone and make a small scene about it."

"Clever. In any case, I need to make this quick. Those guards are expecting me to finish up soon."

"How long do you have?" She asked.

"Eh, a few minutes, give or take," she waved her hand nonchalantly. 

Charlie perched on a nearby crate and dangled their legs off the edge. "Nortia really has it out for members of the Thieves Guild."

"Does she, now? What do you think about that?" the woman asked.

Charlie shrugged. "Nortia's starting to trust me more. She's sent me on some missions lately, but I've been successful every time--despite the odds."

The woman nodded. "What else?"

"I think she wants to send me to spy on Calum. She's mentioned it a few times when she thought I wasn't listening," Charlie said.

"You've got good hearing," she said.

"The walls are thin, Patch. I don't think she realizes just how thin," Charlie said.

Patch climbed onto a neighboring crate and sat down with her legs crossed. "So, are you gonna go through with it? I remember you said you didn't really care about Calum before."

"Well, I'm in no rush. If Nortia wants me to expose her, then so be it. We've got bigger fish to fry than Catol's president," they said.

Patch nodded. "That's good to hear. You know I hate Calum." 

"Yeah. Anyway, I should really get going. The guards are gonna get suspicious if I stay too long." Charlie hopped down from the crate and cracked the window open.

"Hey, before you go..."

"What is it?" Charlie turned to face Patch again. 

"May the Light of Truth guide your way." 

Charlie turned back to the window and climbed out, hopping down on the wooden crates until they reached the ground. The officers immediately grabbed them by the arms, cuffing them once again unceremoniously. Once again, Charlie knew better than to resist at all. 

"So, did you catch the thief? Did you kill them? Do we have to collect a body? Ugh, I _really_ do not want to clean up a body." The officer complained.

"I didn't find anything," Charlie said stoically. 

"General Nortia won't be pleased to hear that. Then again, there's nothing you can do about it. Just don't complain if she makes us tighten those cuffs.

"I doubt my first infraction will require such a harsh punishment," Charlie grunted.

"Hey! Was... was that sarcasm or something?"

"Just bring me to my cell," Charlie complained, again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elric, in his initial designs, always wore shorts and capes. I'm dead serious! Check this link out if you don't believe me: 
> 
> https://78.media.tumblr.com/850a5f2c3d37067d1fcada4ba56125a9/tumblr_nh5d30x5vA1rzyixyo1_1280.png


	8. Trials and Tribulations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Yori gets dunked on and Charlie interrogates a criminal.

_2 months later._

Regrettably, it was five o'clock in the morning. Even more regrettably, Yori found herself standing in an orderly line of her fellow recruits. Needless to say, everyone was exhausted. They all stood as tall as they reasonably could with little sleep, their exhaustion over the last three months catching up to them. They all wore their designated green shirt and camouflage pants, along with black combat boots. They were all lined up in a tall, square shaped building with hardwood flooring, not unlike a school gym. The walls were tall with no easily accessible windows except for the very top, where the wall met the ceiling. Everything that wasn't the floor was concrete, and there was no discernible furnishing anywhere except for the series of black, rectangle mats scattered across the floor. 

She yawned and began to stretch her arms upwards, head leaning back and eyes closed. Once she was done, she rubbed her face with both hands, imagining how comfy and cozy her thin bed and thinner pillow was. She was very much not in the mood for any sort of training so early in the morning, but this is what she signed up for, after all. By now, she was more or less used to it, but it didn't make it any less dreadful. She glanced all around the room once again, finding pretty much everybody else yawning or 'just resting their eyes'.

"Good morning, recruits!" A loud voice echoed. Everyone's attention was drawn immediately towards the source: a drill instructor. The group collectively saluted, Yori included, and fixed their posture. "I see none of you are late today; that's certainly a first. Sounds like we don't have to do an extra lap around the training grounds today!" 

All the trainees let out a collective sigh of relief, Yori included. It had almost become routine at this point: someone oversleeps, everyone gets punished. The training grounds were exceptionally large too, so it was no easy feat. Yori's calves grew significantly more muscular over the last three months than they have her entire life due to the constant 'punishment' she has endured. 

"Today, we're going to be practicing hand to hand combat! If I remember correctly..." The DI scanned the lineup of recruits and pointed at one. "Aren't you the one who attempted to grapple your partner, but then accidentally threw them through the ceiling? Private First Class Armstrong, was it?" 

Everyone looked upward at the ceiling where a hole had been patched up by wood and nails, then towards Armstrong. The group stared at the seemingly unimpressive soldier-in-training, not seeing any particularly shredded muscles. That was the thing with affinities: looks can be incredibly deceiving. 

"Yes, that was me." Armstrong, almost boasting. "I didn't _mean_ for it to happen, it just did."

"That's bullshit! Affinities don't just _accidentally_ go off! You wanted to be a show-off," shouted a particularly offended recruit. 

"You're just upset that _you're_ the one who went through the ceiling! If it were anyone else, you'd have laughed too!" Armstrong shouted back.

"Alright, alright. No more, you two." The DI cut in. "You can settle this by yourselves later, but for now we're going to focus on CQC training."

Yori thought to herself. Close quarters combat wasn't her strong suit by a long shot. At first, she didn't understand why she would ever need it but considered the possibility of being ambushed. Plus, it couldn't hurt to have the ability to, say, disarm an opponent if the situation arises. She glanced back at the two bickering recruits, still glaring at each other. 

The DI continued, "I'll be splitting each of you into groups of two. One of you will be given a wooden knife, and the other has to subdue your armed partner. For this exercise, no affinities are allowed. Not all of our recruits today have one and this is a basic requirement everyone should learn. Your goal is to either land what would be a mortal blow to your opponent or disarm them. This can be done either by taking their knife or by removing it from the mat entirely."

Yori could feel her heart sink again. Somehow those words never lost their sting, no matter how many times she was reminded. She could feel her focus and attention fading until...

"Bellevoir!" 

Yori shook her head and saluted again, "Sir!"

"Your partner today is... Nunki! Both of you, go take a mat and wait for further instruction." The DI ordered.

She nodded, as did Nunki, who was not too far away from her. The two of them walked towards a nearby mat, Yori standing at one end and Nunki at the other. The knife lay in the middle, untouched.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't the phantom herself!" Nunki smirked.

"Hello, Nunki." She said.

The trainee in front of Yori was Nunki, someone Yori had known only in passing. She was more or less the same height Yori was, that is to say about 5 feet and 7 inches, or about 170 centimeters. Despite being ever so slightly shorter, Yori always felt as if she were looking down on her. For a while, she wasn't sure why. Her glare was as intimidating as ever, a glare so intimidating she earned herself the code name 'Void Witch'. Like Yori, she wore her uniform: green shirt, camouflage pants, and black boots. 

Nunki leaned forward and picked up the wood knife by the handle, spinning it around in her hand. "Whoa, this thing's sharp. I should really be careful if I don't want to maim Nortia's finest sniper. Did you know Nortia asked me to take up sniping? She came to me about it, saying how impressed she was with your performance. Said I should have no problem matching your 'talent'." 

"Uh huh..." She watched Nunki toss the knife between her hands as if to show off. She waited for further instruction from the DI, watching everyone else filter into groups of two and finding separate mats away from them. 

Once everyone was settled, the DI announced the next steps. "Trainees, are you ready? Disarm your opponents without the use of affinities. Get set! Go!" 

Nunki wasted no time, she stepped forward and grabbed Yori's right arm with her left. She yanked on her arm and pulled Yori forward, thrusting her knife towards Yori's stomach. With quick thinking, Yori grabbed Nunki's wrist, squeezing it tight and forcing her to drop the knife on the mat below. The two were at a standstill, staring each other in the eyes. The first to go for the knife would be at a severe disadvantage, leaving them open to a swift kick to the face. The two grunted, attempting to overpower the other to no avail.

"Yori," Nunki broke the silence. "Just face it, you can't beat me. The DI didn't allow us to use affinities because otherwise, you'd be dead."

Yori's face tightened further as she bit her lip. "That's not important right now! Just focus on the training!"

"You want me to focus? Fine." Nunki's knee struck Yori in the stomach and knocked her back. She crouched down and grabbed the knife from the ground before Yori could regain her footing. With a loud cry, Nunki charged at Yori with her knife held in both hands. Yori had to think fast, faster than Nunki could run. At the last second, Yori crouched down and watched the knife just barely graze her hair. With both hands, she shoved upwards and used Nunki's momentum to send her hurtling over her and onto the mat. 

The knife flew out of her hands and landed on the hardwood floor. The knife was now out of bounds, meaning Yori was victorious. She was tired, though. Yori was not one for upper body strength, so this took a lot out of her. Nunki groaned to her feet, rubbing her head. She had managed to bang it against the floor, not the mat. She dabbed her hand over her head, noticing she was bleeding somewhat.

"Looks like Bellevoir is our first victor! Congratulations!" The DI was impressed.

Yori turned her attention towards the DI, not noticing Nunki was bleeding. Worse yet, she hadn't noticed Nunki went to retrieve the knife. Yori turned around and saw Nunki with a small bruise on her forehead. She was breathing heavily, unblinking. 

"That was clever, Phantom Hawk." Nunki grabbed the knife with both hands and snapped it in half. "You got me really good. Hah."

"Oh, gods! Nunki, are you alright? I'm so sorry!" Yori cried out, hand cupping her mouth. 

"This? Oh, it'll be fine. You, on the other hand..." Nunki smirked. She took the two halves of the wooden knife and threw them at Yori's face. 

Yori watched the knife sail directly for her. She was too confused and terrified to react in time. The tip of the blade just barely grazed her forehead when suddenly...

_Pop!_

The halves were gone. Just as quickly as they had made contact with her skull, they had disappeared. Yori was confused and shaken. Her hand was still clasped around her mouth, but her other ran up towards her forehead. Was she stabbed and just didn't register it? To her relief, that wasn't the case. She did feel some blood and a couple of splinters, however. She pulled her hand back from her forehead and observed her stained fingertips. 

"Gotcha good, didn't I?" Nunki smirked, crossing her arms. Her head tilted to the side casually. 

Yori was speechless. She lowered both hands to her sides, looking down at her feet. The DI ran over and grabbed both of Nunki's arms from behind. "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" He shouted at her. 

"What? The fight was over; you didn't say we couldn't use our affinities _outside_ of combat. Besides, that knife is long gone now." Nunki sighed. 

And indeed it was. Yori almost forgot in the heat of the moment, but she remembered her affinity all too well: projectile blinking. Given sufficiently small projectiles, whether they're incoming or outgoing, Nunki can cause them to 'blink' in and out of reality at will. They retain momentum no matter what, however. She knew wood couldn't penetrate her skull, but still... she felt a few tears well up in her eyes, but she quickly forced them back down. She glanced back up, noticing Nunki was restrained.

"Why...?" Yori couldn't help but ask.

"You think you're so special but you're not. Someone had to knock you down a few pegs. Might as well have been me." Nunki chuckled to herself, quietly. "No-good-unblessed wannabe." She spat on the ground. 

"That's enough outta you, Nunki. Oh, and Bellevoir, you're dismissed for the day. You can leave." The DI began to escort Nunki out of the training complex unceremoniously. 

Yori sniffled and looked strong. Annma ran towards her once the DI escorted Nunki away, quickly grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Hawk! Hawk, oh my gods are you okay?" Annma asked worriedly.

She paused to think. "Yeah." 

Annma quickly examined her wound, noticing it wasn't bad at all. A bandage would be more than enough. However, Annma began to wonder if Nunki scarred Yori worse than what she could see.

**************************************************************************

Cold. Dark. Harsh. A square room with gray walls, a darker gray door, and a wooden table with two chairs. In one chair facing the doorway sat a Simenti man, no older than his early 20's. His hands were bound to the arms of the chair with rope, his feet also bound to the legs of the chair. Struggling was useless, he knew that much. Despite his best attempts, these ropes would not come undone. Even if he could break them, there was the matter of the armed guards waiting for his escape. He was in no position to be a hero.

 _Clang._ The large gray door swung open. The man looked up and gasped in horror, eyes widened. 

"You're... Reblan, correct?" The figure in the doorway asked.

"Who... who are you?" Reblan asked back, breath uneven.

"Call me Charlie," they responded. "I'm here to ask you a few questions. Hope you don't mind." Charlie slowly closed the large, metal door behind them. 

"You're not here to kill me?" 

"No, nothing like that. I'm just here to ask a few questions." Charlie grabbed the chair opposite of Reblan and sat down.

Reblan took a closer look at Charlie. They were definitely shorter than he was, but by no means did that make them any less intimidating. Reblan noticed Charlie wore a unique kind of uniform, unlike the kind most soldiers wore. Charlie's uniform was nearly completely gray with black accents and the occasional white. They sported a gray shirt with a darker gray hooded shroud. This was designed to keep their identity concealed and to blend in the dark. There were numerous pouches lining the uniform: a pocket on each leg and three more on the torso. Reblan also spotted a pistol holstered on their hip, along with a small knife that was also holstered on the opposite side. 

Charlie took a closer look at Reblan too. They noticed he was somewhat shaking his seat--did they intimidate him that much? He wasn't wearing anything unusual, just a standard long sleeved tee shirt and pants. Upon further inspection, they noticed he had a bruised cheek. They shuddered, thinking about what must've been going on here when they weren't around.

"Alright then... A few questions? I can handle that." He took a deep breath and stared Charlie in the eyes.

"Question one." Charlie sighed gently. "How are you?"

"...What?"

"How are you, Reblan?" Charlie asked again.

"I don't understand. What do you want?"

"I want to know how you're doing." Charlie asked one more time. 

"I'm... okay, I suppose. Definitely been better." Reblan answered quietly.

"I noticed you've got a bruise. Tell me, Reblan, how many more bruises and scars are you hiding under those clothes?"

"How... how could you tell?" 

"That's definitely not your style." Charlie commented.

"They gave me these clothes. They..."

"You don't have to elaborate. I'm well aware of how they treat their prisoners here." They said, reassuringly.

"And how would _you_ know that?" He retorted.

"Well, I'm only working here because I got caught sneaking into General Nortia's office. She was so impressed, she gave me a nice, cozy dorm, not unlike this place." Charlie pointed at the walls. "Gray, cold, dark. Very hospitable."

"And where're _your_ scars?" 

"They don't touch me. Instead, they keep me handcuffed and locked in a cell for most of the day. Most guards wouldn't dare touch me; they're too afraid." Charlie bragged.

"You don't exactly look intimidating. In fact, you don't even sound that intimidating at all. What kind of chickenshit guards is that bat hiring?"

Charlie couldn't help but chuckle. They decided to make the atmosphere a little bit more casual by leaning back in their chair and kicking their legs up onto the table. Reblan stared in bewilderment.

"You have no idea how badly I wanna do that." He commented, trying to swing his legs.

"I could make that happen, Reblan." Charlie got up from the chair and crouched down next to one side of the chair. Reblan was confused but decided to trust Charlie. Unholstering their knife, Charlie sliced at the ropes trapping his legs to the chair. Once the ropes were cut, Charlie stood up and reholstered their knife. With a quick nod, Charlie walked back and sat down in the chair again. Reblan wasted no time in lifting his legs up. At first, he struggled. While raising them in the air, a loud cracking sound came from each of his legs. His legs weren't breaking, his joints were just cracking from disuse. Furthermore, he noticed the undersides of his legs were extremely sore. Not that he should have been surprised, but it's easy to forget when you spend your days locked away.

"Oh my gods," he said. "Thank you. I haven't been able to stretch in weeks. I was worried my muscles would start to atrophy." 

"You're very welcome. Can I ask you a second question, Reblan?" Charlie kicked their legs up onto the table as well.

"Sure thing." He said, almost enthusiastically.

"You're a member of the thieves guild, correct?" 

"...Yeah. I am. Or at least, I think I still am. I haven't seen my family in months. They probably think I'm dead at this point for all I know."

"You consider members of the guild to be your family?" Charlie asked.

"We're very close-knit. We watch out for each other, make sure we're all taken care of... It's nice." Reblan sounded... reminiscent.

"Alright then. Tell me, the thieves guild is said to operate outside of all nations in the neutral territory. This neutral territory exists because of all the trade trains that pass through it. That and Creata Mountain sits square in the middle. When you combine economics and religion, you get a very compelling argument to leave a large chunk of land independent of all countries."

Charlie reached into a pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. After some quick unraveling, Charlie displayed it face up on the table, revealing it to be a map.

"That's certainly a map and some explanation of things I already know." Reblan commented.

"This neutral territory would be optimal for a guild to operate since it would exist outside of all nation's laws. As such, any thefts that occur would be outside of any jurisdiction. The guild is infamous for pouncing on trade trains, raiding them of their supplies. Trains are the primary method of transporting goods between Sabine and all other nations on the main continent. Shenuo, Deseus, and Catol are all connected by land, so trade isn't as much of an issue there." Charlie spoke calmly. 

"We went where the valuables were without putting ourselves in too much danger." He added.

"That much is clear, but I have to know more. The guild typically attacks trains at any point in the neutral territory. Over the last year or so, nearly all documented incidents have been at or around Sabine's border. Why?" Charlie let their legs fall to the floor and leaned in closer in their chair.

"I can't just tell you everything. You're very nice, but I don't want any harm to come to members of the guild. Lacrimosa would--" Reblan stopped himself short. 

"Lacrimosa?" Charlie leaned in closer still. "Who's that? Your leader?"

"Argh. You got me, you snake."

"I'm no snake, I'm a fox." Charlie chuckled quietly. 

He sighed. "Yes, you're right. But please, Charlie, I need to have you promise me something before I can tell you anymore." His voice cracked.

"What is it, Reblan?" Charlie leaned back.

"Promise me you won't go after the guild. They don't harm anyone, they're just trying to get by however they can! Please, Charlie. Please." Reblan begged.

"You have my word, Reblan. I just want to know two more things. Think you can do that for me?" 

He nodded.

"Okay. Firstly, why were you caught just inside of Sabine's borders with a sack full of gemstones? It seems oddly unprofessional of you as a member of a refined guild. If you've been with them long enough to call them family, surely you're more than a novice pickpocket. Why gemstones anyway? They wouldn't do you any good to bring back to the guild. They're not a commodity by any stretch. Even if you could smuggle them into a town and trade them, it would raise a lot of suspicions."

"Why do you need to know that so badly? Do you plan to dismantle the guild? If I weren't stuck here, I'd be living with the guild. That's our home! You can't take that away from us!" He cried out.

"Relax, Reblan. I'm not planning on anything like that."

"Then what are you planning exactly?" 

"Uncovering the truth. I think your guild has ties to someone important, very important. Does this ring any bells, Reblan?" Charlie asked, trying to be as polite as possible.

He thought it over, head facing down and to his right. Charlie could see his eyes darting from side to side as if he were reliving a memory right then and there. Charlie waited patiently for his response, not wanting to rush him or push him any further than they already have. This was a very delicate situation, and they recognized that. 

"Actually, I do recall something..."

"Please, tell me." Charlie jumped forward, standing up and planting their palms flat on the table. This startled Reblan a little, but he quickly calmed himself down. He took a few deep breaths to gather his thoughts while Charlie watched with bated breath.

"I overheard Lacrimosa... mention something about orders. He never said who, but..."

"So Lacrimosa is taking orders from someone? Any ideas who?" Charlie pressed. 

"I didn't hear anything else... But Lacrimosa is definitely loyal to someone. Someone in Catol's capital city. Some government official from the sounds of it." Reblan explained.

"And what makes you say that?" Charlie was extremely curious now. They leaned in even closer, making Reblan more uncomfortable.

"About twice a year, if that, Lacrimosa would go on solo missions. Even the leader got his hands dirty sometimes. He would always go to Catol but we weren't sure why. He's mentioned offhand that he had something special planned, but nothing ever came of it."

"Thank you, Reblan. I'll do my best to convince Nortia to let you leave."

"You're her glorified slave, but you think she'll listen to you?" 

"Don't doubt me."

Charlie got up from their chair and slid it back under the table. They briefly considered retying his legs to the chair but decided against it. Nortia would likely shrug it off, as would any guards who came by. Her words echoed in Charlie's ears.

_"Killing him would be a waste. Otherwise, it's up to you. Do what you must to get him to speak."_

Charlie turned around and began to walk away. Reblan didn't say anything, and neither did they. With a loud bang, the door shut behind Charlie. Thoughts began to swirl and interweave themselves inside of their mind, connecting dots once thought to be unrelated. What does a thieves guild and the governing body of Catol have in common? Quite a lot it seems. With proof positive that there's a connection, Charlie knew one thing:

Nortia would be thrilled.

**************************************************************************

Elric panted. Sweat dripped off his brow and onto the ground below like raindrops in a tropical storm. His breaths were deep and fast, air passing through his lungs like gale force winds. His chest and shoulders heaved with each and every breath as he stared ahead at the wall. Clutching his fist, he punched the wooden wall with all his might. He hung his head low, staring at his own sweat beading towards the ground. To say he was frustrated was putting it lightly. He had first made sure no one would bear witness to his 'stress relief program'. He remembered what Nortia had said to him earlier.

_"I am very much unimpressed by your performance, Inocencio. You've begun to slack in every category, and that isn't even considering our arrangement. If this continues, I'll have no choice but to kick you out."_

Elric unleashed another blow to the wooden wall in front of him. He stood behind the recruits' dormitories where a series of wooden walls meant for an obstacle course had been set. The dorm was a large, rectangular shaped building designed to hold around a hundred people. The mess hall was on the other side of the dorm, so he was totally out of sight from everyone. It was late at night and most of the recruits were currently eating dinner together, but Elric was not allowed to join them. He was just shy of a passing time in a ten-kilometer run, and this was his punishment. Again.

"There's nothing I want more than to kick down these walls." Elric muttered to himself.

"What's stopping you?" A voice called from behind Elric.

Elric quickly spun around, hands balled into fists by reflex. At first, he didn't recognize who was talking to him, but after getting a closer look, he started to remember.

"You're that intruder from three months ago. The one Yori was fascinated by. Your name was... Charlie, correct?" Elric asked.

"That's me." Charlie walked closer and perched themself on top of a wooden wall that was about two meters in height. Their legs hung over the side to face Elric.

"I thought you would be escorted by armed guards. Where are they now?" 

"I don't need them anymore. Nortia trusts me enough to give me _some_ freedom. Besides, that's not your concern." Charlie explained.

"How do I know you're not going to cause me trouble as you did for Nortia?"

Charlie smirked. "If I wanted to, I would've done so by now. I can tell she's already giving you hell, so why would I?"

Elric slowly began to relax his arms, lowering them to his sides. His breathing slowed down as well, causing his heart rate to decelerate. Charlie readjusted their position to get a little comfier. 

"What do you want from me? Small talk? I don't have time for your arrogance." Elric turned around and began to walk away.

"Someone's touchy. Upset that you aren't eating with everyone else?" Charlie prodded.

"I'm more upset with my own performance. I'm not one to make friends if you haven't noticed. Nobody here would call me their friend, aside from--"

"Yori, right?" Charlie interrupted.

He sighed. "You never answered me. What do you want?" 

"I just wanted to give you some encouragement. Think about it, I'm locked up nearly all the time. Nortia clearly doesn't like either of us all that much, but I'm pulling through just fine. You should, too. You're pretty resilient from what I've seen." Charlie stared at Elric's dragon emblazoned on his vest.

"Everyone has their limits." Elric grunted.

"I know that," Charlie responded. "I thought it'd be nice to see someone else pulling through some hardships, maybe it'd encourage you."

"I don't need your pity." He scoffed. 

"Alright, then. I can tell you don't want to talk. Sorry I tried, I guess." Charlie hopped down from the perch and dusted themself off. "You know where to find me if you want to talk more, but I know you don't."

Elric didn't say anything. He turned to face another wooden wall and lean his head against it in agony. Out of the corner of his eye, Elric saw Charlie leaving without a word. Once they were completely out of sight, he began to bang his head against the wall. Not hard enough to bleed, but enough to make it hurt. 

"Two more months... two more months..." Elric muttered to himself again. He grasped at the wall in front of him and stopped banging his head against it. His fingers dragged downwards, his nails leaving marks in the planks. "I can overcome this. I'm resilient. I can pull through," whispered Elric. He stood back up straight and dusted himself off and walked towards the dormitories. It wouldn't be a restful night for him, but he was already all too familiar with nights like these. Despite everything, he felt a newfound resolve burning within his chest. His spirit was rekindled, much like a phoenix born again from the ashes. 

He _will_ succeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Elric. Poor Yori. Poor... Charlie? Military life sucks.


	9. History Repeating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Calina flirts awkwardly, Yori suffers, and Charlie learns their true purpose.

_2 more months later._

Life can be difficult. It can be lonely, whether you're in a crowd or all by yourself. Sometimes your goals will always be just out of your reach. Other times, it can be downright cruel and unforgiving. 

And sometimes, it can just be plain _boring_. 

Calina lay on her back in her tent, legs curled up and arms outstretched. She stared upwards at the blue ceiling, pretending it was a vast and open sky, not a small and closed piece of... whatever this tent was made out of. She didn't pretend she knew, all she cared was that it kept her safe(ish) from the elements. Today was a rather lazy and rainy day, a day Calina couldn't be bothered to go scavenging for food or other supplies. Fortunately, she had just come back yesterday with a massive haul, enough to keep her sated for a week. Unfortunately, her paddle ball had broken, and she had nothing else she could play with. The best she had was her imagination--and some books, but who reads books anyway? Books are for chumps, Calina thought.

But some books, in Calina's opinion, were _not_ for chumps. Calina was fond of picture books, she had very little patience for wordy, old doorstops. She also did like fiction in some cases. Fantasy was her preferred genre, but if something tickled her fancy that wasn't fantasy, she'd give it a chance. Glancing to her side at her small pile of books, she found one, in particular, she very clearly remembered _not_ reading: _History of the world_. History sucks, Calina thought. What's so great about dead people and stuff that already happened? Under normal circumstances, she'd never read something so... so... _dull_. 

"I'm at my wit's end. I'm gonna _read_ this piece of shit..." Calina muttered. 

She grabbed the book out from under a small pile and flipped to the very beginning. It opened with a synopsis of the creation myth that Sabine and Catol shared, her eyes darted across the pages. Flipping each page slowly but surely, Calina yawned, already bored. It was hard for her to focus on something so dull and boring, but she decided to at least _try_ to enjoy it. Perhaps skipping ahead to a more interesting segment would kindle her interest?

"Oh. My. Gods. This book _sucks_!" Calina slammed it down in frustration. She sat up and felt like crying from boredom, face buried in her hands. When she was done, she noticed a black marker on the ground next to her foot. This gave her a devious idea, and she went to work immediately.

Grabbing the marker, she picked up the book and flipped back to the passages she read and made some quick edits. She crossed out lines she didn't agree with and added her own commentary. If you asked her, this improved the resale value of the book by tenfold, perhaps even a hundredfold. After a few minutes of giggling to herself and kicking her legs about, she reread her masterpiece.

The world was said to have been ~~created~~ _farted out many_ ~~millennia~~ _weeks ago_ by two legendary be ~~ings~~ _es_. These be ~~ings~~ _es_ are the gods said to have ~~created the world~~ _been really dumb and stupid_ from the very top of Mt. ~~Creata~~ _Fart_ , sculpting Omnia by ~~hand~~ _butt cheek_. The two gods had two halves of ~~a larger power~~ _a butt_ , and together they were able to ~~create the world as we know it today~~ _rip a fart so massive it created the world and everybody in it_. The two gods had ~~loved~~ _hated_ this world so much, they ~~created an entire species in their image~~ _smelled each others farts like a bunch of dumb rich people_. One would create the species we know today as ~~Creaden~~ _fartripper_ , and the other would create the ~~Simenti~~ _fartsmeller_ species. 

Calina read back what she had written and kicked her legs in the air laughing. Tears welled up in her eyes, which she quickly dashed away with her wrist... And then reality came crashing down on her. "I'm reading a book, what the _fuck_ is wrong with me," huffed Calina. She angrily threw the book down in disgust, as if it had somehow wronged her. She spread out all her limbs on the floor, but couldn't spread them as far as she'd like. Her tent was still kind of small, especially when it was chock full of all the goods she's recently 'acquired' recently. 

Glancing to her side, she noticed she had accidentally kicked over a small doll that she had picked up earlier. It was short, no larger than a few inches tall and even less so wide. It was meant for young children to play dress up with. Unfortunately for Calina, she only had the doll and the clothes it was wearing, which was a simple summer dress. She picked up the doll and examined it closely, seeing it was a Simenti woman like her. The doll had light blue skin and short, red hair. Its mouth was sewn with black thread into a smiley face, and its eyes were made of black buttons. 

"Wait, wait, wait. Everybody, shut up," Calina said to nobody. "I have an idea." She organized her book pile and made a neat stack, sitting it in front of her. Calina sat up straight and crossed her legs and placed the doll on the books, facing her. Brushing her hair with her hands, Calina cleared her throat. She had the brilliant idea of practicing her flirting with this doll, on the off chance she found someone _really_ attractive coming her way. She wasn't fussy at all about who she liked, so Calina felt it extra necessary to be a smooth talker should the situation arise.

"Sooo, um..." Calina coughed again. "Come here often, good looking? No, wait, shit! That's not how that line goes at all! Let me try again!" Calina's palms shot forward, flailing them wildly. "Okay, _this_ time I got it. What's cooking, sexy looking?" Calina winked. Nailed it.

The doll stared back, unfazed. It was utterly lifeless and couldn't react to Calina's... advances. This, somehow, made Calina even more nervous. 

"Ummm... Hey, so, are you the sun? Because my eyes burn when I look at you. No, no, no, that's not good enough. Okay, okay, okay... Hey, are you religious? Because you answered all my prayers!" Calina giggled. 

The doll stared back at her.

"I'll just pretend you laughed at that one. Hey, nice ass. Mine's pretty good, but it's got a crack in it. I think I need a new one." The tent was silent until Calina chuckled. "Ugghhh, this is going nowhere. Why am I so miserable at this?!" She grabbed the doll and shook it in her hands. "Love me, dammit! You should be swooning, but you're just... _staring_!" Inspiration struck Calina like a bolt of lightning. She set the doll back down and cleared her throat.

"So conventional tactics may not work here," Calina explained. "In that case, we need to go for full-on showboating."

She cracked her neck and rolled her arms, loosening her muscles. With her sleeves rolled up, Calina began to flex at the doll. She made sure to strain her bicep and triceps as much as she could, much to the doll's indifference. For some reason, Calina kept expecting some kind of reaction. She rolled up her shirt and exposed her (poorly defined) abdominal muscles. "Look! Abs!" She cried out.

Calina collapsed on her back. She gave up. "I hate this fucking doll so much. Flirting is fake, actually." She rolled onto her side, thankful absolutely no cute girls or guys were watching.

**************************************************************************

Classrooms are places for mental stimulation and challenging your perspective. They are places where you can learn and grow as an individual, expanding your horizons and broadening your knowledge of certain topics. For some, this is the case, but for many...

"Um, excuse me," a shrill voice called out. "Shouldn't today's lecture be history, not social studies?"

The classroom, full of about thirty students, all faced the annoyance sitting front row and center. The voice belonged to Disada, a recruit in Nortia's army. Not far behind him sat Yori, her head buried in her hands as she considered dying to escape the secondhand embarrassment emanating off of Disada. Elric sat towards the back and diagonally across from Yori, unperturbed by the disturbance in the room. Whether this was him tuning out all distractions or total indifference remained to be seen. 

At the very front of the classroom sat Major Atra, the professor. The room was unusually muggy today, causing everyone's clothes to stick to their fur. Atra was even less lucky than his students because he had to sit far away from any of the open windows. The room was rectangular and only had windows on the opposite side from where his desk sat. This meant students in the back row got a nice and gentle breeze, but everyone beyond was stuck wallowing in their musk. In the wintertime, this wasn't as much of a problem. 

He was a rather large man, both tall and a little bit rounder than he would've liked. At times, his uniform managed to obscure his more muscular physique, which managed to catch more than a few students off guard. If Atra had a particularly troublesome student, he would grab them by the arm and yank them from their seat with surprisingly little effort. 

"Disada. If you let me explain, you would find that all of your questions will be answered. Please don't interrupt until I'm done speaking, alright?" Atra gripped his snout with his hand and winced. 

"Okay, okay. Sorry, Major Atra." Disada sunk into his seat. With his arms folded, his eyes began to dart around the room curiously.

Atra coughed and stood up, sliding his chair outwards as he did so. "As I was saying, today we'll be covering the societal impacts that religion and mythology have on society. Now, I know what some of you are thinking: Why should I care? I'm a member of the army, I didn't sign up to think hard! Well, that's where you'd be wrong! You see, General Nortia believes knowing history to be paramount to being an effective soldier. To know history is to learn from it, and learning from the mistakes of our forebears will keep us from making them again." He walked around his desk with his arms crossed behind his back.

Yori removed her face from her hands to focus on the lecture. She looked at her feet and grabbed her notebook from a black bag she had carried around. The notebook was adorned with her signature, as well as signatures of some of her fellow recruits. Opening to the first clean page, she flipped past pages scrawled with notes. Each page was filled from top to bottom with as much information she could pack as possible. She didn't waste a page at all because she knew she'd need every single one. She was confident that she'd need at least two more notebooks just to record everything she wanted to remember. 

Elric reached into his bag and pulled out a notebook of his own. Unlike Yori's, his was far less cluttered. Everything was more neatly organized, but his note-taking was lacking in comparison. Specific concepts were easier to find, but he wrote far less than she did. If Yori wrote a novel, then Elric would write the summary. His style seemed to work for him, as he had never struggled before in any sort of school setting. He noticed today that his bag felt a little lighter than usual. It didn't take him long to realize why this might be the case. He sighed, realizing Yori had stolen one of his notebooks for her own use. Not like he was using it, anyway.

"Affinities are really something else, aren't they?" Atra craned his head to face the center of the classroom. Yori felt like she was being stared at specifically. "We define an affinity to be a natural affiliation or attraction to a particular element, but did you know this was not always the case? Historically speaking, both Creaden and Simenti--"

"More like _Scum_ enti, huh? Huh?" Disada piped up. 

The class was silent. 

"Both Creaden and _Simenti_ ," the professor emphasized, "were originally created sans affinity. In modern society, we would call people like this _Sine Affinitas_. This reminds me..." Atra's eyes darted across the classroom. He noticed Disada had started to flail both of his arms in the air but decided not to give him any sort of encouragement. "Bellevoir!"

Yori's eyes shot open and she stood up from her desk. "Sir!" 

"Now, now, Bellevoir. No need to be so formal. Goodness, I should be more careful when I speak. The general's got you all messed up if anyone so much as breathes your name strongly."

Nodding, she sat back down.

"So tell me, Bellevoir: Where did the gemstones originate from, and what did they do according to all known historical records?"

Yori raised her finger and pointed upward, level with her face. She took a breath and just before she was able to speak...

" _Actually_ , professor, I know. The gods created the world and then left, for whatever reason. So when they did, they wanted to be remembered, because who doesn't? So then they concentrated their powers into little gemstones, a ruby, and a sapphire. They were able to give Creaden and Simenti powers through a special ritual, but over time their power faded. They were the original sources of affinities in both species. Creaden and Simenti didn't initially even _have_ affinities, the gems got the whole thing started. From there, affinities were passed down through inheritance!" Disada explained, not taking a breath once.

Yori's ears deflated, along with her ego. Once again, reality smacked her in the face like a rogue baseball. No matter how many times this happened, it never got any easier to accept. She buried her face in her arms and wanted to scream.

"Disada, I didn't know you changed your name to Bellevoir!" The professor chuckled. "You're correct, but next time let another student respond."

Disada turned his head around and blew raspberries at Yori, but she didn't notice. After he turned back around, Yori looked up and brought her hand in front of her face. She pretended to pinch Disada's head with her index finger and thumb, imagining she was crushing it. 

Elric crossed his arms and watched Yori pinch the air in front of her eyes, wondering if she'd finally lost it. His attention was dragged from Yori towards Atra as he coughed again. 

"Perhaps Bellevoir would like a second chance to answer one of my questions, yes? Splendid! So then, Bellevoir, could you tell me what happened after the gemstones disappeared?"

Yori gulped. "Well, they, um... Like Disada said, they stopped working. People weren't getting affinities, so they believed they had lost the gods' blessing. This caused a sort of rift between the Creaden and the Simenti, as they blamed each other for everything that went wrong. There were also disputes over who should claim Mt. Creata, which led to wars that lasted for centuries." Yori explained as Disada craned his head to face her.

"And then what, Bellevoir?" The professor asked.

"Well, people became disillusioned with war as a whole after fighting for so long, so the two people came to a peaceful agreement. They agreed to leave Mt. Creata as neutral land and neither Sabine nor Catol owned it. As for the religious aspects, Sabine still praises the Creaden god more than the Simenti god. And of course, Catol praises the Simenti one more. The two nations share an origin, but grew apart over time."

"How many people are active practitioners of the Creata religion?"

"Not as many as there used to be, but..." 

"Actually," Disada spun to face the professor, "blessed people are more religious on average than unblessed. Sorry, _Sine Affinitas_." He said with a scowl. "It's probably because our God's grace is more tangible than to them." 

Yori slammed her hands on the desk firmly. This caused Disada to spin around in confusion. He was about to speak, but Yori shushed him. "The only tangible thing here is your obnoxious attitude." She spoke in hushed tones. "So kindly _shut your mouth_."

Atra didn't want to acknowledge the tension between Yori and Disada directly, so he decided to speak to the class instead. By doing so, he hoped to at least mediate somewhat between Yori and Disada. "Class, the proper and polite way to refer to those unfortunate enough never to receive an affinity is Sine Affinitas. Never, ever say unblessed, unloved, godless, or soulless. It isn’t their fault they cannot and will not ever obtain power from the gods. It's not like the gemstones of legend are lying around, waiting to be discovered to grant affinities to people anymore."

Elric uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, barely able to hear what Yori was saying to Disada. Once he felt he'd heard enough, Elric leaned back and crossed his arms again, grabbing at his sleeves. His fingers grazed the soft fabric and dug away nervously as he noticed Yori had become rather irritable. This was especially noticeable when the topic of affinities is mentioned to her. He knew better than to speak a word of it to her even before they had joined the military. As he leaned back a little, Elric recalled when he had first met Yori. It had taken her months, almost a year, for her to accept that he had an affinity and she didn't. Over time, she grew more comfortable and seemed to accept the reality of her situation. Or so Elric had thought. 

Disada looked like he was about to retort, but Atra was standing over his desk with the presence of a grizzly bear. With two pairs of angry eyes drilling opposite holes into his head, he slunk into his seat submissively. 

"Very good, Bellevoir." The professor clapped his hands together. "I can always rely on you for clear and descriptive answers." He stared at Disada.

"Thank you, professor." Yori nodded. 

**************************************************************************

"You called for me, General?" Charlie asked.

"Ah, my Specialist. Come in, come in. Take a seat." Nortia stood facing a window in her office with her hands behind her back. She heard the large, wooden door to her swing open then shut, followed by a few footsteps. 

"Ma'am, what can I do for you today?"

Nortia turned around and walked towards her desk. Each step she took was deliberate and weighty, the wood beneath her creaking ever so slightly. As she sat down, she leaned forward and rested her elbows on the desk with her hands on top of each other. "Specialist Charlie, you've exceeded all my expectations. I'll admit, I didn't think you would at all. When we first met, I was ready to put a bullet in your brain for what you did." 

"I'm thankful that you didn't," Charlie said. 

"It would've been a mistake for both of us," she continued. "I feel it's almost time to send you on a mission of utmost importance. You must remember what I said about President Algolin, yes?"

"I wouldn't dare forget it."

"Good. I know it must surprise you that she likely has ties to the thieves guild. Someone so kind and demure, yet secretly a scourge upon her nation. It is unbecoming of a leader. The guild is a plague. They have been terrorizing Sabine for decades, but no longer. Their reign of terror ends with us, my Specialist. The guild is nothing more than a roach that must be squashed." Nortia voice was stern.

"The guild is that bad? From my experience, Reblan folded easily. Forgive me, General, but I'm having a hard time imagining them as the scourge they're made out to be." Charlie said.

"Ah, then you clearly haven't witnessed their work personally. You've only seen one rat tied up. They've killed some of my most valued soldiers, therefore it is my responsibility to end this plague once and for all. It is never easy telling the family of a deceased soldier that scoundrels got the best of them. They do not even get honorable deaths." Nortia got up from her chair and walked around the room. As she did, she wrapped her arms around her back and found her way to the window once again. From here, she had a view of a small portion of the training grounds. She could see some recruits hard at work sparring, running, or doing other exercises. This warmed her heart to see. With a small smirk, Nortia placed one hand on her heart and walked back towards her chair once again.

"I understand, General. I'm sorry you've had to go through this." Charlie tracked Nortia with their eyes.

"Don't apologize to me. Instead, I want you to listen carefully as I brief you on your next mission." 

"Of course, ma'am." Charlie repositioned themself in their seat.

Nortia took a breath. "As it stands right now, I do not have an exact timeframe for your next mission. It could begin anytime between one month from now and as many as three months. You must be ready at a moment's notice for the window of opportunity to open."

"Window of opportunity?" Charlie interrupted.

"Yes," Nortia said. "Your mission is to infiltrate the Algolin administration and obtain proof that Calum has ties to the guild. Once you gather the intel, return it to me at once. While I do not know what she has that would link her to the guild, I'm sure you can find something that would damn her just fine."

"Why is the timeframe so wide?" Charlie asked.

"Right now it is the middle of the summer. President Algolin loves to make trips around the nation towards the end of summer and early fall. The timeframe depends entirely on the weather, which we must monitor closely."

"What does the weather matter if you're sending me to gather intelligence on her? Do you not want her anywhere near her office when I infiltrate?"

"Not quite. Wherever the president goes, her security will follow. This means her office will be far less secure than normal, so it will be your best bet to gather as much information as you can without getting caught."

"I understand, General." Charlie nodded and glanced at their side. They spotted a wooden cane with a leather handle. It lay in the corner of the room behind where Nortia sat. This was something new, Charlie thought. 

Nortia noticed Charlie's glance and piped up. "Noticed the cane, have you? Yes, I'm getting old. This is what happens in your late fifties, I'm afraid." 

"Getting old is a fear we all have." They commented.

"Yes, it is. That's why we must make the most of our lives while we still have them, make your name well known. In my old age, I've influenced hundreds, if not thousands of people just by my presence alone. I've toured countless times, making differences every day of my youth. Now that I'm older, it becomes all too obvious that my time is growing shorter. Ironically enough, the less time you have, the more you spend reflecting on what you had." Nortia sighed. 

"I can only imagine what that feels like." 

"Someday you'll understand. But for now, I suppose I could explain a little bit more about why I became a general in the first place. You see, I have always felt that the most important thing anyone can do is to impact as many people as they can. You will die one day, that much is certain, but your memory can live on through your deeds. They say you die twice, you know. Your first death is when your body dies, but the second one is when your name is spoken for the last time."

Charlie paused. "You wanted to do as much good as possible?"

"I didn't intend on becoming a general at first; I was just happy serving my country. For years I served, and only when I was in my thirties did I consider taking such a prestigious position." Nortia leaned back in her chair with her elbows on the arms of her chair. With her fingers interlaced, Nortia began reminiscing about her past. Long gone days that she looked back upon fondly. A small smirk formed on her face as she recounted some of her more pleasant memories before leaning forward again. 

"You're a very noble person, ma'am," Charlie said.

"Thank you. I'm glad we see eye to eye now. I've chosen to forgive and forget your past transgression as a direct result of your hard work and dedication. You and I share a common belief in participating in something larger than yourself. This is commendable, is it not?" Nortia asked.

"With all due respect, ma'am, save your praise for when I actually accomplish the mission."

"That's the attitude I look for in my specialists. I just wish the other recruits would be as dedicated as you are." Nortia looked sullen.

"I didn't know you had new recruits," Charlie said.

Nortia reached into her desk and opened a drawer. Wood sliding against wood creaking and groaning as she pulled out a folder. The folder slapped down on the desk and some papers came loose. "Each page is another application. The military here gets plenty of applications, but only the top 5% can even qualify for a specialist position. You've had unusual circumstances, but specialists in my army are treated handsomely. It's no wonder there are so many people looking to join your ranks."

"How handsomely?" Charlie asked.

"Well, soldiers get the standard burial in a military cemetery as well as some health benefits, but specialists get more. Their whole family gets the burial rights as well as a higher pay grade, along with health benefits for them, their family, and their direct descendants."

"Do I get any of that?" They smirked.

"If you had any family on record, then they would also benefit. I seem to recall you declared yourself an orphan?"

"I was just wondering if I'd ever get paid."

Nortia chuckled. "Oh, you'll be paid well. You need not worry about expenses when you're my top specialist." She grabbed the folder and put it away inside th desk once again.

"Is there anything else you need today, ma'am?" 

"No, that is all. You are dismissed, my Specialist." Nortia gestured to the door. "And thank you for indulging an old woman in her ramblings."

"My pleasure." Charlie stood up and bowed. 

"Oh, please. You don't need to bow. Salutes are just fine, thank you."

"Understood, ma'am." They stood tall and firm, the side of their hand against their forehead. Without another word, Charlie walked towards the door and closed it behind them. It was only a matter of time now, Charlie thought. 

Time to expose a corrupt president.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell all your friends to read Affinity Unbound! We've got:
> 
> Historical Vandalism  
> Awkward Flirting  
> Presidential Corruption  
> Secondhand Embarrassment  
> Philosophy


	10. Somebody's Watching Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Elric and Yori work together, and Calina runs.

_One more month later._

The wind roared with the ferocity of a hungry lion. The grass and leaves responded in turn, swaying violently. Not a single cloud hung in the sky above, giving the sun free reign to beat down on the world below it. It was a hot summer day like the many that came before it. It was the kind of day most folk would rather stay inside for, but not everybody had that luxury. 

"Alright, Yori. Don't screw this up. You've got this," Yori said to herself. She had taken some deep breaths to soothe her nerves, hoping her scope would stop shaking so much. She lay prone on the top of a grassy hill, wearing a garb made from interlaced grass, leaves, and other greenery to conceal her appearance. It was like a ghillie suit but it didn't cover her full body, hers was only the back half of a full suit. This worked fine for laying down, but if she crouched or stood up, it would be useless. In the summer heat, this would be an acceptable tradeoff. 

She was in the ideal position to get a clear view of a small series of buildings at the base of the hill. Each one was about two or three floors tall, but no more than that. At the very bottom was Elric, who had been pressed up against the side of a building for what felt like hours. He had been waiting for Yori's signal to move from this building to the next one over. Despite his desire to peak around the corner, he knew better than to risk giving away his position. Unlike Yori, he couldn't conceal himself so easily. The last thing he'd want is to get caught by a guard now, especially when they're both _this_ close to the prize. 

Yori nudged her rifle a few inches to the left. By doing so, she caused sunlight to reflect into Elric's eyes. He looked up and gave her a thumbs up, then proceeded to sprint to the wall of the next building. When he approached, he clung to it with his back pressed up against it. To his left, he saw two wooden crates stacked on top of each other. Each crate was a little over two meters in height, so scaling both of them at the same time would be difficult for a normal person.

Fortunately, Elric was not a normal person. He stomped his foot on the ground and created a small earthen platform which rocketed upwards. As it soared, so did he; he hopped on top of the newly formed platform, then leaped on top of the crates. Once he had climbed up, the platform disappeared, sinking back from whence it came. Glancing upwards, Elric saw the roof of the building was within his reach. All he had to do was hook one foot on a window ledge and leap to the very top. Before he did, he glanced back to face Yori.

"Hmmm..." Yori muttered. She slowly maneuvered her scope to point to the roof of the building Elric was perched next to and saw only one guard. As far as she could see, there were no other guards on any of the roofs either. Only one guard seemed unusual, but then she saw the large woman turn around. Looking closer, she could see she was armed with a small knife and handcuffs. This made her gulp as she had realized how serious their situation had become. Do or die, she thought. Do or die. She swung her scope back to Elric and wiggled the barrel. 

Elric had known this signal meant danger. Footsteps grew closer and closer to the wall he was pressed up against. If the guard looked over the ledge, he'd be caught. Either he would have to act fast and hope he could overpower her, or wait for her to turn around and get the drop on her. The choice was all too obvious for him.

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap tap.... Tap. Tap. Tap..._

The footsteps stopped and faded into the distance. Elric had to act as fast as he could, wanting to be sure he could close the distance fast enough. With a hop and a leap, he vaulted over the edge. As his feet landed on the floor, the guard turned around. She quickly brandished her knife when he grabbed her by the wrist. Elric attempted to disarm her, while the guard tried to free herself from his grasp. In an effort to catch him off guard, she gripped her free hand into a fist and swung for his head. Before that could happen, Elric kicked the guard right in the stomach with his foot, knocking her back a few feet. 

Yori watched the entire scene unfold before her. The wind had started to pick up, which would make her intervening much more difficult should the need arise. Not that she wanted to, of course, but she would. She could see the guard reach for her knife once again, noticing Elric failed to restrain it. Her fingers wrapped tightly around her rifle. 

"Think you're hot shit, huh?" The guard taunted Elric, knife swinging dangerously close to his chest. Elric was able to dodge backward just enough for the knife to miss. 

"I don't think _I _am," he said. "I know someone who is." He decided to take a risk.__

__"Bring it!" She shouted._ _

__As she let out a war cry, Elric dropped to the ground enough to get underneath her knife hand. While she was distracted, Elric had grabbed and twisted the knife out of her hands. Luckily, it fell right next to his foot, allowing him to kick it away as far as he could. This only served to anger the guard more._ _

__"Argh, dammit! Lucky for me, I've got a backup plan." She grinned sickly and grabbed him by the wrists. Lifting him up to his feet wasn't too difficult for her, the difficult part was figuring out where to headbutt him. The guard slammed his forehead against hers with full force over and over again. Somehow this didn't seem to injure nor dizzy her at all, but Elric wasn't looking quite as resilient. This was bad for Elric but fantastic for her. Her hand found its way to her side pouch where she kept the handcuffs. It didn't take her long to pull it out and prepare them._ _

__Yori had to act fast. Her mind was clouded with anxiety and fright. Taking one last deep breath, she leaned into the scope of her rifle and tracked the guard's hand. She lined up the shot and..._ _

___Pow!_ _ _

__The handcuffs flew right out of the guard's hand. Unlike the knife, which was only a couple dozen feet away, handcuffs flew clean off the rooftop. The sudden noise scared and confused the guard, which Elric capitalized on immediately. He grabbed her by the wrists and slid behind her. Before she could even think about kicking him, Elric wrapped his legs around the outside of hers, properly restraining her. Elric could see her fur turning almost literally red from fury, but he knew the situation was under control._ _

__"Ugggh, gods _dammit_! How did I lose to the fuckin' Feat Feet and Hawkeye duo? Gods... Nortia's gonna kill me." The guard sighed. _ _

__Elric released her from his grasp. "So, we passed?"_ _

__The guard stumbled away, dusting herself off. She made a beeline for her knife and handcuffs but realized the latter was too far away. "Yeah, yeah. You two passed." She said._ _

__"Yori!" Elric called out. "You can come up here, we've passed!"_ _

__"Oh, cool!" She wiggled the barrel of her rifle in the air triumphantly. She stood back up on her feet and wiped herself clean. Some grass and dirt stuck to her uniform, not that she minded, though. The edge of the hill wasn't too steep, so she decided to take the short way down to the bottom. "Woohoo!" She shouted, surfing downhill. Small rocks and other debris came loose with her impromptu downhill derby. What better way to celebrate than letting out a warcry? Yori cheered victoriously, but Elric didn't._ _

__He stared at her as she slid down the hill, crossing his arms. Impatience got the best of him already. "Yori," he said. "Don't fall!"_ _

__"Pshh, I'll be fine!" She cried out. As she reached the base of the hill, she ran forward and attempted to leap up Elric's crates. Forgetting they were over double her size, she collided face first and smacked her entire body up against them pathetically. The crates were knocked about slightly, unperturbed by a 150-pound nuisance. Unfortunately for her, she didn't brush off this encounter so easily. She slid to the ground and fell on her back, dazed and confused._ _

__Elric sighed. In the back of his mind, he knew she might do something irrational in her excitement, but this? This wasn't something he expected at all. With a huff, he hopped down from the roof and landed on the crates, then the ground beside her. He helped Yori to her feet and get her bearings._ _

__"I thought..." Yori trailed off. "I thought I had enough momentum. I got so lost in the moment, and it was gonna look so cool..."_ _

__"Let's save the high jumps to the professionals, alright?" Elric patted her on the back. "This isn't quite as easy as it looks."_ _

__"Yeah, yeah. You're right." Yori nodded._ _

__The two heard a faint clapping sound approaching them. It got louder and louder before they realized it was coming from behind. Turning around, Elric and Yori found Nortia. She was grinning and clapping her hands together in amusement--she had seen everything. Given the hot weather, Nortia opted not to wear her usual cape. She wore every other part of her uniform, however. In her left hand was a long black cane adorned with the Sabine flag. As she came to a stop, she placed the cane down in front of her and held it in both hands. It wasn't obvious at first, but Yori noticed she was resting some of her weight on the cane._ _

__"Impressive," she said. "You two certainly are a resourceful duo. Your chemistry is unparalleled! And may I say, PFC Bellevoir, that was a most impressive shot."_ _

__"Thank you, ma'am." Yori saluted._ _

__"And PFC Inocencio! Don't think I didn't observe your marvelous hand-to-hand combat too! Well done." Nortia said._ _

__"Thank you." Elric saluted as well._ _

__Nortia noticed Elric and Yori's uniforms were stained with sweat and... was that blood? On Yori's uniform? It didn't look like a lot of blood, a drip at most. The source was Yori's nose, but Nortia didn't think Yori even knew that she was bleeding. "Bellevoir," she said. "You're bleeding."_ _

__"I am..?" Yori patted her hand on her nose. When she pulled it away, she noticed two little dots staining her palm. "Oh, jeez!" She cried out._ _

__Elric sighed, pulling out a small handkerchief from one of his many pockets. He handed it over to Yori, who yanked it from his hands and began dabbing her nostrils. The handkerchief was doing well to absorb the blood, not that there was too much to clean up anyway. She remembered to lean her head back and pinch her nose in case there was more._ _

__"In any case, I'd like to congratulate you both formally for passing with flying colors. The two of you managed to excel in every task I've thrown your way, but especially you, Elric." She pointed at him and poked his chest. "You performed remarkably well given our... arrangement. I can't find fault with your performance, so I have no choice but to consider you a fully fledged soldier now. Both of you are now proud graduates of my boot camp!"_ _

__Elric and Yori turned towards each other and grinned, Yori most of all. She jumped in the air triumphantly, letting the handkerchief fall to the ground. Elric couldn't help but rejoice as well, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and smiling even just a little. All the hard work the two of them had put in finally paid off! How could they not feel at least a little happy?_ _

__"As is customary among all my graduates, I will be bestowing each of you a gift. I don't think you'll find any fault with them. They're top of the line weapons and should suit the two of you perfectly. Barnam!" Nortia clapped her hands together._ _

__A soldier walked forward from inside a building not far away, holding an item in each hand. In his left was a quarterstaff with metal tips on either end. It was made from what looked to be high-quality wood and had metal rings around equidistant sections. In the other hand was a state of the art sniper rifle, fitted with an optical scope and made from what looked to be the same wood. Barnam walked forward and gave Yori the rifle and Elric the staff before walking away wordlessly._ _

__"These are for you. I'm sure you'll make great use of them given your talents and affinity. I don't think I need to explain to PFC Bellevoir how to use her new sniper. Inocencio, I sure hope you can make good use of this staff." Nortia said._ _

__Elric examined the staff closely. Upon closer examination, he could tell it was more or less his height in length. It was almost six feet long (1.8 meters) including the metal-tipped edges. He planted one end firmly in the ground and wiggled it, noticing it wouldn't budge. This gave him plenty of ideas already. "Thank you, ma'am."_ _

__All the while, Yori was staring blankly at her newly gifted rifle. Nortia looked concerned at first. She had thought Yori was somehow unsatisfied with the latest and greatest in sniping technology. Her worries were quickly dashed as Yori went to take a long, loving sniff of the rifle. Her nose traced the gun from stock to barrel, the wood had a distinctive scent like a pheromone. Shuddering in pleasure, Yori lowered the rifle to about hip level and examined it in greater detail. The woodwork looked as marvelous as it smelled, the metal polished and shaped to perfection. The scope was much larger than the ones she was used to, including the one she had fired earlier. She held the scope to her eye and noticed how much more magnified objects in the distance were._ _

__"So," Nortia said, "is it to your liking?"_ _

__"General Nortia, I..." Yori attached the rifle to her sling and threw it behind her back. With little warning, she hugged the general tightly. "Thank you, ma'am."_ _

__There may have been protocols or rules in place to keep such an event from happening, but Nortia let it slide this time. She hugged Yori back as well. "You're quite welcome."_ _

__Elric stood there with his staff, tip buried in the ground. He waited for Nortia and Yori to finish their... hug. Once they separated, Nortia regained her more serious composure. Both Yori and Nortia coughed through the short, awkward silence that followed._ _

__"You two seem to work well as a team, so it wouldn't make much sense to split you up now. In three days' time, both of you will be shipped out to Confina. It's the city nearest the southern train checkpoint. It should be no surprise that I believe Bellevoir's talents as a sniper will do well to assure the safety of all incoming and outgoing trains from there. Inocencio, you will serve as her spotter. In the event you two are ambushed, you're most qualified to handle it. Consider yourself a short-range bodyguard, while Yori covers long distances."_ _

__Yori and Elric nodded in understanding._ _

__"I'll arrange for housing accommodations close to your post. You are to report there every morning before the first train. You are not to leave until after the last train for the night has passed. There will be other guards to take over for breaks, but don't depend on it. We can be short staffed at times, so constant diligence is a must."_ _

__"I understand," said Yori._ _

__"And you, Inocencio?" Nortia turned her gaze towards him._ _

__"I do," he said._ _

__"Excellent. You two will be leaving in two days, so prepare yourselves as you see fit. Your remaining time until then is yours to do with as you please. Say goodbye to your families, gather any belongings you wish to bring with you, anything."_ _

__They nodded again._ _

__"Splendid. I shall see you two soon." Nortia spun around and walked off proudly._ _

__Elric and Yori shared a glance. Yori grinned, but Elric didn't. This confused Yori. Wasn't he excited they finally graduated from training? Did something bother him...?_ _

__"Hey, something wrong?" She asked._ _

__Elric collapsed to the ground and lay flat on his back, limbs sprawled out in every direction. The stress had finally caught up to him and the adrenaline wore off. Only now had he realized how much _pain_ he was in. He realized Yori might worry something was horrifically wrong with him, so he gave a quick thumbs up in approval. This, surprisingly, hadn't eased her concerns. "I'm fine," he said._ _

__"You sure don't look fine." Yori crouched down next to him, either in solidarity or in exhaustion._ _

__"My legs feel as if they are on fire, but it's just that--a feeling. I recommend having a fire extinguisher on hand just in case." He joked._ _

__"Elric, be serious."_ _

__He was dumbfounded. "Me? Be serious? You would do better to ask the sky to be blue."_ _

__"Smartass." Yori extended her hand. Elric took it and together they lifted him up onto his feet again._ _

__**************************************************************************_ _

___Meanwhile._ _ _

__"Fuuuck, it's hot," Calina complained aloud._ _

__Calina had been sitting on a tree stump not far from her tent. It was her go-to spot for taking in the lovely scenery around her less-than-stable housing situation. From here, she could see all sorts of trees: tall ones, taller ones, and even some trees with branches. Sometimes, if she was particularly lucky, she might be able to see a squirrel hopping from branch to branch. Nothing beat a good, tree-filled view, Calina thought. Nothing but trees. Yup. This was the high life._ _

__"I fucking hate it here," she complained again. Despite her not necessarily living in a cabin, she had begun to suspect she would succumb to cabin fever soon enough. Having nothing but trees and grass surrounding your home gets tiresome. In her frustration, Calina stood up and grabbed her butterfly swords, which had been laying by her side. She needed something fun to do, and fast. Her eyes scanned the horizon and saw only more trees. Everywhere she looked it was more of the same. This frustrated her immensely._ _

__"Fuck these trees!" She shouted. There were so many of them, too many, she thought. Who would miss a single tree anyway? Not her, that much was certain. Most of the ones nearby were too thick for what she had in mind, so she had to search a little bit further away. Calina stomped furiously through the woods until she found what looked to be a younger tree. It was not much thicker or taller than a street lamp and barely had any leaves on it. She shrugged, figuring this would be enough to relieve her stress. She readied both blades, raising them above her head and to the right before slicing to the left._ _

__The tree was cut in half, no match for her thick blades. The top had tumbled down and landed on the opposite side of her with a loud crash. All that remained was a waist-high stump cut at an angle. Calina heaved and puffed victoriously. "I sure showed that defenseless piece of nature." She chuckled to herself. Not content with enough arboreal abuse already, she kicked at the stump over and over. The wood creaked and groaned in protest, until it, too, crumpled over. Now uprooted, the stump lay flat on the grassy ground below._ _

__Despite all this, Calina still felt... bored? Lonely? She wasn't sure. Whatever she was feeling, she didn't like it. She sulked back to her favorite tree stump next to her tent, swords in hand before collapsing down on top of the stump. She gazed upwards through a gap in the treetops and caught a glimpse of the sky. Reaching her hand skywards, as if to grasp for it, she tightened her hand in futility. "Someday, I'll soar through the sky! No more stupid, dumb forests for me. No sir! Nothing's gonna hold me back."_ _

__And then she heard something. A soft tapping noise that got louder and louder. She could hear the sound of branches being kicked away and became anxious. Were those..._ _

__Footsteps?_ _

__Calina jumped to her feet and readied her blades. With one in each hand, she pointed them forward an arm's length ahead of her. She couldn't tell if those footsteps belonged to a person or a large animal, but either way, she wasn't alone. The steps grew louder still, Calina's grip tightening in response. Out from between the treeline emerged a Simenti man. He waved._ _

__"Well, well, well!" He held his arms out triumphantly. "If it isn't Li'l Callie."_ _

__Calina widened her stance, blades pointing at his chest. He was at least fifty feet away but knew that would change soon. "What do you want? Who are you?"_ _

__The man frowned. "You don't recognize me? It's Emada. Your old friend from the guild." He approached her casually._ _

__"S-Stay back!" Her arms quivered, her blades shook. "Get any closer and I'll cut you where you stand!"_ _

__"Oh? That so?" He stopped._ _

__"Don't test me, Emada. And never call me Li'l Callie again if you know what's good for you."_ _

__"I don't think you're in any position to be making threats."_ _

__"I've got two swords, and you've got none. I don't see the problem." Calina glared._ _

__"That's actually the problem, you see. You know those blades don't belong to you," Emada held out his hand. "Hand 'em over. Now."_ _

__"Not even gonna say 'Or else,' huh?" Calina joked._ _

__Emada stood only twenty feet away now. The only thing separating them was the tree stump Calina sat on earlier. If one of them attempted to run, the other could catch them quickly. Calina didn't even have the luxury of turning tail and running as fast as she could; her tent was right behind her. If she wanted to run behind her, she'd have to go around the tent and slow down. Calina didn't want to admit it, but she had very few options left._ _

__"Why would I? I'm gonna take those blades back, the only difference is whether or not you hand them over to me."_ _

__"So you're saying I'm fucked either way?" Calina asked._ _

__"Basically. You betrayed us, Calina. I thought we were all family."_ _

__"What kinda family lets their members throw themselves in danger without any way to protect themselves? Huh?" Calina huffed angrily._ _

__"You _stole_ from us, you ungrateful pig!" Emada shouted._ _

__Calina was running out of time. She needed a plan, fast. Their argument would reach a boiling point soon, and if that happened... "Alright."_ _

__"Oh?" Emada was shocked. "That easy, huh? I'll be taking those swords back."_ _

__Emada held out both of his hands. Calina sighed and walked forward until she stood two steps from the stump. If she was going to act, now was the time. Before she knew it, she threw both of the blades right at Emada. They sailed right past his head faster than he could react, cutting the air over his shoulders. While his attention was drawn towards the blades, Calina had run forward and leaped off the tree stump. With one little leap, she jumped on top of Emada and hopped off of him, doing a forward somersault midair as she did so._ _

__Calina caught the blades by their handles in midair and landed on her feet, now behind Emada. She bolted forward through the forest as fast as she could. Meanwhile, Emada was not only confused, but he was also in complete dismay. Did she just weasel her way out so easily? He was furious. This wasn't supposed to happen. He had the upper hand and everything! Clenching both of his fists, Emada shrieked loudly. As he did, the air around him burst into flames. A spherical fire completely surrounded Emada, but it dissipated quickly._ _

__He made chase as quickly as he could, following as close behind her as possible. However, Calina had the home field advantage. She spent long enough in these woods to know them intimately. Unfortunately for Emada, he fell victim to low hanging branches and confusing paths. Tracking her had become much more difficult the longer the chase went on. It felt like hours, but in reality, the chase was over before it even began. Calina won. She managed to shake him off her trail through her raw speed and familiarity with the woods._ _

__..._ _

__Calina kept running. She had no way of knowing how long she'd been running, but her legs felt as though they burst into flames. Before she knew it, she toppled over, tripping over a branch she hadn't seen. The blades fell out of her grasp and landed in front of her with a soft thud. Not wanting to be an easy target, she scrambled to her feet and grabbed the handles. When she tried to run again, her legs refused. Looking behind her, she saw no sign of an angry, fiery man behind her. So that was good. In front of her, she saw nothing but open field. Behind her was the edge of the large forest she had once called a home._ _

__The sun had now begun to set. The once blue, cloudy skies gave way to a pink and red dreamscape. Calina took a moment to take some deep, calmer breaths. She was safe, for now. There was no sign of anyone chasing her. She could relax. Before she knew it, Calina collapsed on her back on the soft, grassy field below. Her arms lay outstretched on either side of her body and her legs lay flat on the ground. Sweat had coated her entire body, pit stains ruined her shirt and jacket._ _

__"This sucks," she complained. "How the fuck am I gonna get home?"_ _

__Calina thought about the possibility of her not having a home to go back to anymore. Emada clearly knew where to find her, so heading back home likely wouldn't be a good option. After all, if he found her once, he can find her again. If she wanted to stay away from him, she needed to keep moving. Her home was no longer safe. She had nowhere to go anymore. Not even her little, shitty tent in the woods could protect her anymore. All she had left were the clothes on her back and her two butterfly swords. Worst of all..._ _

__"Gods dammit, I left my history book behind!"_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Being homeless isn't so bad, just make sure you have your edited copy of "The History of the World," and maybe a towel.


	11. Graduation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Elric and Yori graduate.

As always, the sun bore down on the world below it. Summer was in full swing and showed no signs of slowing down, at least not anytime soon. The afternoon sun was as merciless as ever, torturing the unfortunate souls clad in full military uniforms. It was yet another day at the army base, but today was special.

Graduation.

A little more than a hundred wooden chairs had been lined up in the middle of a concrete courtyard. Each and every single one faced a wooden stage with a large podium, fitted with a microphone. Two large speakers flanked the platform on either side, held up by metal poles. The stage had been set for a long-winded speech that served as little more than self-assured conceit, disguised as congratulatory praises. Today would be what most would call a 'long day'.

An hour later, the seats had been filled to capacity. In each seat lay a soldier, individual by nature, uniform by design. In the middle of the crowd sat Yori, on either side of her were Annma and Skylar. Behind her sat Nunki and in front of her, Disada. Elric was sitting behind her and to the left, right next to Nunki. He was not familiar with any of the people surrounding Yori, but he knew Yori knew them all rather well. To his dismay, Yori had struck up a conversation with Annma and Skylar. Disada and Nunki didn't engage her. 

"Excuse me," he turned to Nunki, "I'm... Elric. Congratulations on graduating." He extended his hand out to her.

"...Elric?" She crossed her arms. 

"Yes, I'm Yori's friend. I take it you're one of her friends as well, correct?"

Nunki didn't move, her gaze fixed on the back of Yori's head. "No," she said.

"Oh, my apologies for assuming... Er, what is your name?"

No response. However, this didn't deter Elric as much as it should have. Either he didn't recognize forced polite conversation, or he just didn't care. 

"Well, I hope everything works out well for you, mystery person," Elric said before turning his attention back towards the podium. 

The ceremony began formally with an opening speech from a commanding officer nobody had really seen much of before today. After the seemingly never-ending speech ended, another officer stole the stage. Like the speaker before them, they, too, had far too much to say. The graduates began to lose focus faster than a caffeinated toddler in a toy shop. Many began fiddling with their hands, harassing their neighbors, or zoning out entirely. 

Mercifully, the intermission began. Most of the dry speeches were over, or so everyone thought. Not wanting to waste an opportunity to relax, many of the graduates began conversing with one another. Meanwhile, Yori had started to share a laugh with Annma and Skylar. She had been leaning forward, laughing out loud as Skylar did his best Elric impression. It involved him puffing out his chest and leaning forward with his hands on his hips, brushing an imaginary cape. As he did so, he wore a stern gaze and looked at Yori.

"You see, Yori, I believe that shorts are the optimal companion to fluffy capes. I also possess no upper body strength whatsoever!" Skylar mocked. 

Elric had paid no notice to their antics in front of him, but he was concerned with the sort of people Yori hung out with. She was far more sociable than he would ever likely be. Of course, this is a blessing and a curse. Being somewhat popular means you attract both the nice and the not-so-nice, and Elric could see that happening right in front of his eyes. 

"Skylar, stop!" Yori elbowed him in the chest. "Don't let him hear," she whispered pointedly. 

"I think he's too busy socializing with little Ms. Edgey over there." He said, far too loudly.

"Bold words from Mr. Silent Sky himself." Annma chimed in.

"What's wrong with that code name?! I think it sounds great!" 

"They oughta call you Silent But Deadly." Annma was now leaning over Yori to prod her finger into Skylar's chest. 

"And why's that?" 

"'Cause all the words coming out of your mouth are like farts."

"Can you two settle down? Jeez." Yori stifled a chuckle as Annma retracted her arm. 

Skylar reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small deck of cards. He flicked through a few until he found the one he was looking for. Curious, Yori leaned to her side to get a better look. As she did, Skylar leaned away. For the briefest of moments, Yori swore she saw a crude picture of her face on one of the other cards in his hand. Just how many cards did he have? He began scrawling a note at the bottom of the card's front. "Noted."

"What's noted?" Yori asked.

"Are those your soldier information cards, Sky? Did you just write something about me down?" Annma leaned over Yori.

"Oh, no," Skylar pulled his cards away from her grasp. "These aren't for your viewing pleasure, Annma."

" _Crow._ "

He chuckled quietly before stuffing the cards back into his pocket.

"Stupid Silent Sky..." She muttered to herself, crossing her arms. 

"Oh my gods," he said. "I know you love being called Black Crow, but why do you have to call everyone else by their code names?"

Annma was about to respond when a soldier walked on stage, tapping the microphone on the podium with his fingers. All the graduates turned their attention forward after hearing the dull thuds from the speaker. The soldier cleared his throat and did a quick mic check before speaking. 

"All rise for the benevolent Queen Turan!" 

At once, the graduate soldiers arose. They saluted their queen as she walked on stage. As was expected of the ruler of an entire nation, Turan was dressed in nothing but the fanciest and most expensive of garbs. The golden crown rested on her head like a cloud; it bore a series of small rubies and sapphires that wrapped around the base. Her long, chestnut colored hair draped over the back of her opulent royal dress. Right above the neckline was her golden chained necklace. Like her crown, it bore a ruby and a sapphire linked side-by-side. Beneath her necklace, royal purple frills cascaded downwards from her chest all the way to her feet. At the base of her dress were her black, ballerina-like shoes that resembled rocks at the base of a waterfall. Indeed, Turan's very presence was as commanding as a sheer cliff face. The queen took the podium promptly and adjusted the microphone. 

"Please, be seated." She held out her hand and motioned downward. The graduates sat down. "I stand before you today as the proudest a queen could ever feel. Seeing the passion and dedication of Sabinese youth is what makes this country so wonderful. I do not see anything less than the best of the best. None of you would be sitting here if you were not capable of changing the world; all of you are determined, strong, and most of all, hopeful. You are this country's pride and joy, and it warms my heart to see you here. I sincerely hope that you will remember this day as the first day towards making not only your loved ones proud," she paused, "but your country as well." 

Elric bit his lip ever so slightly as he heard Turan say 'loved ones.'

"Never forget why you are here," Turan continued. "You are our defenders. You will keep us safe. You are the best of the best. I have seen many soldiers come and go, but all of them shared one thing in common: they all have something or someone they wish to protect. I look now and see the same desire in all of you. Words cannot express how proud I am of each of you. At no point did any of you abandon your duties. Not many people can make the same claims all of you have, and that is why we celebrate you here today."

Yori felt a nudge on her shoulder. "Hey," Annma whispered, "how long is Turan gonna talk for?"

She quickly shushed Annma. "The _queen_ is speaking. Be respectful." 

Annma groaned but said nothing else, letting out a sigh of boredom. 

Turan continued. "Incite in others respect and love for our country and fellow Sabinese. Fight for Sabine's ideals, that which we hold sacred... And most of all, fight for the fallen. The fallen do not have a voice to speak, but their hopes and dreams rest now on your shoulders. It is your duty to carry out their legacy. Do not let them down." She paused. "Congratulations, every single one of you. May the gods bless Sabine with their loving grace."

A sea of hands began to clap together, their approval drowning out everything else. Turan walked off the podium and bowed as adoration poured over her like a tidal wave. With the same grace she had walking on stage, Turan sauntered off stage towards her security ensemble. Not long after, the flurry of applause died down before settling into the same stillness it had before. 

Soon, everyone began to get up. With the end of the ceremony came the beginning of the end. Soon, all the graduates would be shipped out to various parts of Sabine and beyond. 

Yori turned to Annma and tapped her shoulder. "Oh, by the way," she said, "did you get in?"

Annma paused. "Get into what?"

"You knoooooow, that thing you're not technically supposed to talk about but definitely do? That thing?" Yori teased.

"Oh! You mean _that_ thing. Yeah, uh..." 

"...What's wrong?"

"I can't really talk about it. It's kinda confidential." Annma said hesitantly. 

" _Kinda_ confidential?" Yori asked.

"Well, i mean, it _is_ confidential. Nortia treats specialist stuff really carefully." 

Skylar chimed in. "She'd be able to talk more about it if you applied, Yori. Still not really sure why you didn't." 

"Wait," Yori said, "you applied too, Skylar?"

He nodded.

"Honestly, Hawk, I thought you would too. We could've been, like, specialist buds! Crow and Hawk fighting crime and, um, doing what specialists do!" Annma cheered. 

Yori paused. She didn't notice at first, but Skylar and Annma had begun to lean in closer. Their eyes were wide open as they gazed into Yori's soul, or at least, that's how she felt. Skylar's hand wrapped around his chin while Annma opened her eyes wider. Sweat began to bead on her forehead, which she quickly wiped away. "I was going to apply, really..."

"What happened?" Annma asked, unblinking.

"Well, I was thinking about it, and I don't know if it's really for me. It's a lot of responsibility and I'm not sure I can handle it."

"Responsibility? Hawk, you're, like, the _best_ sniper around! You'd be a no-brainer."

"I don't know..."

"Did something come up?" Skylar scratched his chin.

"Well..." Yori glanced back at Elric briefly. 

"Oh. My. Gods," Annma leaned in close. "You totally have a crush on Elric, don't you?"

"What?!" Yori recoiled back, cheeks flush with embarrassment. "No, it's not like that!"

"Then why did you look at him just now? Hmmmm?" Annma grinned like a smug detective who cracked a case wide open.

"Annma, can--"

" _Crow._ " 

"...Crow, can we save this for later? After all..." Skylar motioned towards Elric sitting behind them. 

"It's nothing like that!" Yori said, much louder than she intended. 

Elric couldn't hear their whispers but definitely heard _that_. Confused, he leaned forward and stuck his nose in between Annma and Yori. "Nothing like what?"

Yori blushed. "Ugh, I'll explain later."

"Lovers' quarrel?" Annma smirked.

Elric stared blankly at Annma. "Oh, I see then. You think Yori and I are a couple."

"Elric... Oh, my gods." Yori buried her face in her hands. 

Skylar leaned in over Yori, practically climbing on top of her to see Elric more clearly. "So you two aren't dating? Huh. I thought you were. I mean, you two had the whole 'childhood friends' thing going on..." He said with a smug look on his face.

"Yeah," Annma said. "Hawk mentioned you signed up with her cause you were sooooo worried about her. That's so sweet!"

Elric leaned back in his chair as Annma and Skylar spun around in their seats to face him. Meanwhile, Yori began to wish she had never been born. 

"I can assure you there's nothing romantic going on between us. I wouldn't be ashamed to date her anyway," he said.

"Then why don't you two hook up? You'd be perfect together, I can tell." Annma said.

Elric was about to respond when he heard a groaning sound next to him. Confused, he turned his head and saw Nunki closing her eyes in... mediation? From what he could tell, she was sitting perfectly still and breathing deeply. While he stared, Annma and Skylar joined him. They, like Elric, were both confused and intrigued. Skylar was the one to break the sudden silence.

"Hey, Nunki?" He asked.

Nunki didn't respond. 

"Hmm," Skylar said aloud. "Maybe we should continue this elsewhere. I don't think we should disturb her." Much to everyone's surprise, Skylar looked somewhat concerned.

A cold sweat began to form on the back of Yori's neck. She had almost forgotten Nunki was sitting directly behind her. Was she listening to everything? Why did she sit right behind her? Seats weren't assigned, so why here? These thoughts began to flood Yori's mind until--

"Hey, Phantom Hawk." Annma began snapping her fingers in front of Yori's face. "We're heading back to our bunks for some more gossip. Let's go." 

Yori shook her head, noticing everyone else had already stood up. Not wanting to feel left out, she got to her feet as well. As she did, Nunki stood up. 

"Yori," said Nunki.

Everyone else had already begun to walk away. Yori turned around slowly. "...Yes, Nunki?"

"You think you're the best sniper, don't you?"

"I never said that..." Yori trailed off. She began to fiddle with her uniform's sleeves.

"Not out loud," she grunted. 

"You know I'm not the best sniper, Nunki. You're honestly better than I ever will be." 

"I know that. Tell that loudmouth that _I'm_ the best, not you." She cracked her knuckles. 

"Loudmouth...? Do you mean Annma? Er, Crow?"

"Whatever she wants to go by. I figured she'd believe you more than me."

"Alright... I'll tell her."

"Actually, tell her one more thing," Nunki said. 

"...Yes?" Yori could feel her legs begin to wobble ever so slightly.

"Tell Annma I'll see her soon. She knows where and when."

Too anxious to say anything else, Yori simply nodded. After what felt like an eternity, Nunki sauntered off in the other direction. All at once, the weight of the world had been thrust onto her shoulders. Yori turned around and followed everyone else back towards the dorms. She had stifled a sniffle and wiped her nose on her sleeve. It didn't take her too long to regain her composure. As she looked around, Yori noticed sunset had completely passed her by. She wasn't really sure when it happened either.

Standing outside the dormitory, Yori let out a long sigh she had been holding. She opened the door slowly and stepped inside. The entire room had a series of beds lined up next to each other in the long, rectangular room. The sleeping arrangements were less than ideal. Bedframes were barely thicker than a plant's stem, the mattresses themselves might as well not even be there, and the pillows were no better. But still, a bed is a bed. Soon enough, all the soldiers would have more comfortable arrangements, perhaps even a chance at some privacy. 

Elric, Annma, and Skylar had been gathered around her bed. The beds weren't personalized, but over time everyone knew where their friends slept. Annma had a wide grin on her face while Skylar was more subdued. From what Yori could see, the three had been talking about something while waiting for her. 

"And here she is now," said Skylar. "We were grilling poor Smellric over here waiting for you."

"My name is Elric; there is no S or M in it anywhere."

"S and M, you say?" Skylar chuckled at his own crude joke.

"Elric, I don't know how you did it, but you managed to make this even worse for yourself." Annma sighed.

"I don't understand," he said, confused. 

"Can we... can we not do this right now?" Yori interrupted. 

"Someone please explain what S and M means," Elric repeated.

His question was met with a unanimous no, despite his protests. As he complained, Yori sat on the edge of her bed. Skylar had briefly considered explaining it to him but realized it was more fun this way. 

"Ignorance in action is far more entertaining, don't you think?" Skylar said.

"No," Elric replied.

Annma really did not want to dwell on this topic any longer. "Aren't you gonna sit next to your lover, Elric?" She asked, changing the subject as quickly as possible.

"Tell me where she is, then," Elric replied.

"Someone's feeling snarky today."

"You must not know me very well then."

"I don't! We hardly ever talk. Kinda late to start now, but I might as well make up for lost time."

Elric moved past Annma and sat on his bed, sitting across from Yori. As he did, Annma sat down next to her and faced Elric. Skylar pulled out the same deck of cards from his pocket and scrawled a few more notes before filing them away again. Yori wanted to ask what he wrote about (and who) but knew there was no point. 

A brief silence hung over their heads like a cloud. A weak drizzle of awkwardness rained down upon them while Yori struggled to spark a conversation.

"So..." she trailed off mid-thought. "Where are you two going to go after this? Both of you applied to be specialists, right?"

"We did. I think Nortia was pretty satisfied with our applications. With any luck, we won't be going far. Hell, we might even be staying right here." Skylar said.

"Really?" Yori asked. "That's good, right?"

"Yeah. It's why I applied to begin with; being among the best of the best is kind of my thing. Think of all the observations I can make..."

"You just wanna ogle the other specialists. I can see it in your eyes: big, beefy soldiers with biceps thicker than your skull. That's saying something, too, considering how thick _yours_ is."

"I'm... too confused to be offended, Crow." 

"Whatever," she said. "That's both of us, Hawk. We like it here and we want it to stay that way. Did Nortia tell both of you where you're going, or not yet?"

"She mentioned something about pairing us together, actually. Me and Elric. We did really well on our final exam together, so I don't think she's going to change anything. Aside from that, not really. I know we're gonna be border guards, but I have no clue where." 

Elric spoke up. "There aren't very many options. It will likely be Confina or Latoli. Those are where the trade trains enter and exit from Sabine. I imagine Yori and I will get placed in either one as a sniper/spotter duo."

"What he said," Yori agreed. 

"All by yourselves? That seems unlikely considering how large-scale the recent thieves guild raids have been. I've been keeping track of all known guild incidents for quite some time now. I can assure you they're nothing to shrug off. If they were, we likely wouldn't be here." Skylar said.

"Maybe we'll be the first line of defense? Or maybe we'll be placed somewhere in between where there's been less recorded activity." Elric said.

"Either way, you'll be far from home. How does that feel?" Skylar asked as he reached for his deck of cards again. 

Yori spoke up first. "It's... I can't lie, it's a little nerve-wracking. But at the same time, I kinda wanna see what the rest of Omnia is like. I haven't left Propietra before, so taking baby steps might be best."

"Don't like culture shock, Hawk?" Annma asked.

"I don't know! I've never experienced it before."

"I don't believe any of us have," Elric spoke up. "I don't have any plans to travel anytime soon. I'm fine with Sabine."

"That's awfully closed-minded of you, Feet."

Meanwhile, Skylar began writing some more notes down as the others spoke. He smirked as he did so, taking great pleasure in chronicling his friends' lives. As he did, he remained silent. 

"Do you _have_ to call me Feet, Annma?"

Annma's face swelled with disapproval. " _Crow,_ " she insisted. "And yes, I do."

"...Moving on," Elric shrugged, "if Yori and I do travel, we'll be sure to tell you all about it."

"Oh, if you go to Catol--" Skylar said.

"We won't," Elric said.

"I'm just saying if you _do_ go to Catol, try one of their seafood platters. It has some kind of fish and a marinade. I've never had it, but I heard it's really good."

"Where did you hear this, Skylar?" Yori said.

"A friend of mine told me. I forgot the name, but it's a popular dish."

"I'll try and remember that."

Just then, the curfew bell rang out. It was now "Nighttime," but informally known as "Sleepy Time" among many of the trainees. Lights all around the campus began shutting off one by one, leaving the dormitory the only building illuminated within sight. A commanding officer barged into the dorm and performed a quick tour, blowing out all the candles that lit the dorms. 

"Guess we better head off to sleep," Annma said. "Night, Hawk. Night, Feet. Night, Sky." She began to retreat to her bed at the far end of the dorm.

"Good night, everyone." Skylar was quick to walk over to his bed, letting out a yawn as he did so.

Elric and Yori were left staring at each other in the darkness. Neither of them spoke for what felt like an hour. 

"I'm sorry they made fun of you, Elric."

"If they were making fun of me, I certainly didn't notice."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"It's quite alright. Even if they were, it doesn't affect me at all." Elric insisted.

"Okay, then... Thank you. That helps."

"Anytime, Yori." Elric swung his legs around and lay down on the bed.

"I can't wait until we get to see other parts of Sabine. I know you're not really interested in traveling, but it's good to expand your horizons. Plus, we'll have fun together! I mean, when we're not on active duty or anything..."

Elric cuddled underneath his blanket, curling his tail around his stomach to add a layer of insulation. "We'll see about that. You should really get some sleep, though."

She sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Good night, Elric."

"Good night, Yori. Sweet dreams."

"You too."

Yori yawned and stretched as she climbed into her bed. Unlike Elric, she didn't lay on her back. She slept on her stomach with her tail at her side. As she closed her eyes, thoughts swirled around her mind like a tornado. What would the next week be like? What is active duty really like? She knew border patrol was mostly a boring and thankless job, but still, she worried. The only thoughts that soothed her mind were her father's. She remembered what he told her the night before a big exam when she was a teenager. 

_"No matter what happens, you will still be exceptional."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw your self-confidence is so bad you shy away from opportunities to excel.


	12. Soldier Profile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To celebrate the end of Act 1 of Affinity Unbound, I've taken the time to craft up a character profile sheet for all the major characters in General Nortia's army thus far.

STANDING ARMY OF SABINE  
PROPIETRA DIVISON -- GENERAL NORTIA  
  
OFFICER DOCUMENTATION

ALL INDIVIDUALS HANDLING THIS INFORMATION ARE REQUIRED TO PROTECT IT FROM UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE IN THE INTEREST OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY OF SABINE. HANDLING, STORAGE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISPOSITION OF THE ATTACHED DOCUMENT WILL BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE ROYAL DECREE(S), STATUTE(S), AND AGENCY IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS.

  
NAME: ELRIC INOCENCIO  
CODE NAME: FEAT FEET  
RANK: PFC  
OCCUPATION: BORDER GUARD  
AGE: 21 YEARS OLD  
GENDER: MALE (HE/HIM)  
HEIGHT: 6'3" (190.5cm)  
RELIGION: CREATA  
MARITAL STATUS: SINGLE  
FAMILY: AUNT, UNCLE  
NATIONALITY: SABINESE  
DOMICILE: PROPIETRA CITY  
AFFINITY: Y  
TYPE: EARTH  
AFFINITY DESC. (IF APPLICABLE): Creates round platforms made from the Earth by stomping the ground. Platforms levitate for a short period of time and can hold his weight. Has other applications, but added height is the most common use-case.  
GENERAL NOTES: Unsociable, naive, and a pacifist. Stubborn to a fault. Willing to undergo extreme duress to uphold beliefs. A tough nut to crack for sure, but everyone has limits. How far will Inocencio go to hold onto his beliefs? Keep a close eye on this one. Potentially one of the most strong-willed soldiers to grace my watchful eye, but also likely to crash and burn. What drives him?

  
NAME: YORI BELLEVOIR  
CODE NAME: PHANTOM HAWK  
RANK: CORPORAL  
OCCUPATION: BORDER GUARD  
AGE: 20 YEARS OLD  
GENDER: FEMALE (SHE/HER)  
HEIGHT: 5'11" (180.3cm)  
RELIGION: CREATA  
MARITAL STATUS: SINGLE  
FAMILY: MOTHER, FATHER  
NATIONALITY: SABINESE  
DOMICILE: PROPIETRA CITY  
AFFINITY: N  
TYPE: N/A  
AFFINITY DESC. (IF APPLICABLE): N/A  
GENERAL NOTES: Proficient sharpshooter, easily top of the class. The best sniper that has ever graced Sabine. Disappointed she did not apply for a specialist position. Sensitive and easy to upset, but capable of focusing on the task at hand. Has a special interest in her sniping hobby (perhaps why she's so skilled?). Seems to be a childhood friend of Inocencio's, likely a good duo to pair together. Their abilities complement each other incredibly well, while also masking their individual faults. Success is in her future.

  
NAME: "CHARLIE"  
CODE NAME: GLASS FOX  
RANK: SPECIALIST  
OCCUPATION: RECONNAISSANCE  
AGE: 20 YEARS OLD  
GENDER: AGENDER (THEY/THEM)  
HEIGHT: 5'8" (172.7cm)  
RELIGION: CREATA  
MARITAL STATUS: SINGLE  
FAMILY: N/A  
NATIONALITY: SABINESE  
DOMICILE: N/A  
AFFINITY: N  
TYPE: N/A  
AFFINITY DESC. (IF APPLICABLE): N/A  
GENERAL NOTES: Rogue, stoic, and secretive. Almost nothing is known about their family records or past. Perhaps that's how they want it to stay? Regardless, they cooperate quickly and efficiently with all orders given and has surpassed all expectations. Capable of information retrieval and reconnaissance with a level of expertise unmatched by top spies. Refuses to open up to anyone, not unlike Inocencio. Keep a close eye on this one. While they have not given me any reason to distrust them as of late, their initial break-in will not be forgotten anytime soon. 

  
NAME: ANNMA LICATO  
CODE NAME: BLACK CROW  
RANK: SPECIALIST  
OCCUPATION: TBD  
AGE: 21 YEARS OLD  
GENDER: FEMALE (SHE/HER)  
HEIGHT: 5'9" (175.3cm)  
RELIGION: CREATA  
MARITAL STATUS: SINGLE  
FAMILY: MOTHER, FATHER, BROTHER  
NATIONALITY: SABINESE  
DOMICILE: TRE FIUMI  
AFFINITY: Y  
TYPE: SPIRIT  
AFFINITY DESC. (IF APPLICABLE): Can create spiritual "copies" of herself, disorienting and confusing others. Capable of commanding up to three at a time which mimics her movements exactly, but has no corporeal form.  
GENERAL NOTES: Enjoys roles. Refuses to call anyone by their real names, instead opting for code names. Perhaps a coping mechanism? Exceeded all expectations when applying for a specialist position. Spirit copies useful in intimidating and scaring opponents. Full of surprises. Makes friends easily despite her standoffish demeanor. 

  
NAME: SKYLAR VENTARO  
CODE NAME: SILENT SKY  
RANK: SPECIALIST  
OCCUPATION: TBD  
AGE: 20 YEARS OLD  
GENDER: MALE (HE/HIM)  
HEIGHT: 5'9" (185.4cm)  
RELIGION: CREATA  
MARITAL STATUS: SINGLE  
FAMILY: MOTHER, SISTER  
NATIONALITY: SABINESE  
DOMICILE: MADENO  
AFFINITY: Y  
TYPE: AIR  
AFFINITY DESC. (IF APPLICABLE): Does not experience the effect of wind or windchill on his body.  
GENERAL NOTES: Highly analytical. Takes notes on everyone and everything he sees and refuses to share this knowledge. Prefers to indulge in social behavior only after "retrieving" enough information about others. Seems to enjoy having the upper hand in all situations whenever possible. 

  
NAME: NUNKI VIDE  
CODE NAME: VOID WITCH  
RANK: SPECIALIST  
OCCUPATION: TBD  
AGE: 22 YEARS OLD  
GENDER: FEMALE (SHE/HER)  
HEIGHT: 5'7" (170.4cm)  
RELIGION: CREATA  
MARITAL STATUS: SINGLE  
FAMILY: FATHER  
NATIONALITY: SABINESE  
DOMICILE: POSITA  
AFFINITY: Y  
TYPE: SPACE  
AFFINITY DESC. (IF APPLICABLE): Can cause incoming and outgoing projectiles to "blink" in and out of reality at will while retaining their momentum.  
GENERAL NOTES: Superiority complex. Does not get along well with other trainees. Strong and capable, but demands an audience. A force to be reckoned with, but must be handled with caution. Will likely be a powerful specialist if her temper can be controlled. Sniping abilities almost match that of Bellevoir's. Affinity gives Nunki the upper hand in certain situations.

  
NAME: DISADA TURLOUGH  
CODE NAME: CARELESS WHISPER  
RANK: SPECIALIST  
OCCUPATION: TBD  
AGE: 19 YEARS OLD  
GENDER: MALE (HE/HIM)  
HEIGHT: 6'2" (188.0cm)  
RELIGION: CREATA  
MARITAL STATUS: SINGLE  
FAMILY: FATHER, MOTHER, SISTER, BROTHER  
NATIONALITY: SABINESE  
DOMICILE: TRE FIUMI  
AFFINITY: Y  
TYPE: SPACE  
AFFINITY DESC. (IF APPLICABLE): Can create bags with an interior space larger than it appears to be. In other words, it's bigger on the inside. They can hold up to 300 pounds worth of contents within a volume of 50 cubic feet (~1.4 cubic meters). These bags will only ever weight, at most, 15 pounds (~6.8kg).  
GENERAL NOTES: Smartass. Needs a lesson in humility. Despite his arrogance, he is a genius with his affinity. Excels in all written testing but lacks physical strength. Perhaps he seeks a more senior position in the military than a simple grunt? Would explain his arrogance. Unfortunately, he has a lot going for him, so ignoring his applications will not be easy. It would be foolish not to consider him given his utility.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF ACT 1: BASIC TRAINING


	13. Playing with Fire, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Yori tempts fate.

"Elric, how long until our shift ends?" Yori asked.

"Let me see..." Elric rolled back his uniform's sleeve, revealing bare fur. "My personal timekeeping device tells me that we still have plenty of time left."

"You couldn't be _any_ more specific than that?"

"I didn't bring a watch. The next time we're in town, I will buy one, alright?"

Yori huffed. She had been laying on her stomach on top of a grassy hill with her eye staring down her rifle's scope for what felt like an eternity. The hill overlooked a long set of train tracks, giving Elric and Yori a full view of any passing trains. A dense forest lay on the other side of the tracks, but it didn't obscure their view at all. The sun hung overhead as a constant reminder of her discomfort as sweat permeated her uniform. Worse yet, she wore a hooded jacket of sorts made from grass and leaves. It was a lot like a ghillie suit, except it only covered the back and sides of her body when laying down. A full uniform would likely give her heat stroke if she stayed still for too long in the open sun. 

Elric lay next to her, mercifully not covered in the worst blanket ever. His eyes stared through the sights of a pair of binoculars, scanning the horizon. This had become routine by now: lay down, stare for any oddities, then leave. Life as a border guard was a lot more boring than they expected. 

"I can't tell if I should be glad nothing ever happens or not," Yori sighed.

"Perhaps we should have been miners instead. Imagine getting to uncover diamonds."

"I dunno. I heard mining kind of sucks," she sighed.

"What is worse, this or mining?" he asked. 

"Hard to say. At least stuff happens when you mine. Here? Nothing."

"Are we tempting fate now?"

"No, I... I just thought I'd be more useful than... _this_."

"Surveillance is not an active job. We're here to react to threats, not seek them out. Who knows, maybe we've deterred would-be thieves just by sitting here?"

"I thought our job was to go unnoticed. Why else would I be wearing this ghillie coat in the middle of the summer?" Yori complained.

"I seem to recall this was entirely your idea. You wanted to be a sniper, you wanted to join the army, and you wanted to be a border guard. At any opportunity, you could've chosen anything else. But here we are, melting."

Yori grunted and let go of her rifle, letting it fall on its side. After struggling to get on her feet (her ghillie suit was very inconvenient), Yori dug her finger into Elric's shoulder. "Yes, I made all those decisions, but not because I wanted any of this. Don't act like you were dragged along. I seem to recall," she said, mocking him, "that you _also_ wanted to join the army and be a guard."

Elric got onto his knees and put his binoculars away. A sigh escaped his lips. "You're right, Yori. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she sighed. "I didn't mean to get frustrated either." She said as she crawled on her stomach to her original position. As she did, some stray strands of grass poked her eye, causing her to wince in pain. "Ow!" She cried. 

"Maybe we should take turns wearing that ghillie coat."

"That'd be so nice." 

The two returned to their monitoring positions and resumed their passive surveillance. The sun's oppressive rays occasionally eclipsed by gentle clouds, bestowing upon them brief respites. Hours passed with little excitement or fanfare. The occasional leaf in the wind would cause Yori's ears to stand up straight, only to shrink in embarrassment. Staring at a set of train tracks that stretched from horizon to horizon for half a day wasn't anyone's idea of a good time, yet here they were. 

Yori's eyes scanned the rails closely, starting towards her right. Almost obscured by the horizon was a train station. Trade trains carrying Sabine's export, mined gemstones, came and went from there day in and day out. These tracks, in particular, went straight to Catol with no stops along the way. Since Catol is just one of the three other nations Sabine trades with, it should be no surprise this railway is the least active. To the northwest was the more active railway, where a single Sabinese train station handles three railways that run to Catol, Shenuo, and Deseus. 

Trains would come by once, maybe twice a day at best, typically carrying Sabinese exports or even passengers looking to visit Catol. Everyone who's anyone took the _other_ train, the one that housed the upper class or otherwise important persons, such as government officials. The railway Elric and Yori found themselves guarding was far less active, which meant trouble was far less likely but at the same time...

Silence laid upon the two guards like an even thicker blanket than the heat. With little action or excitement, the shared awkwardness was their daily guest. Dissatisfied with this, Yori broke the silence. "Do you miss anyone from training, Elric?"

Elric didn't respond at first. Was he thinking his answer over, Yori thought? "Sort of."

"Anyone in particular?"

"Hmm..." Elric paused again. "I think the only person, besides you, who made a lasting impression on me was that intruder we saw on our first day--Charlie was their name."

"Them? I can't say I expected you to remember them at all. I barely do."

"Charlie was surprisingly helpful. We spoke one night around three months ago, albeit very briefly. I needed the motivation to carry on, or else I would have..."

"'Would have' what?"

"It has been extremely difficult keeping my head afloat. Nortia's added workload to my training took its toll on me; I thought I would burn out and fail, as she expected me to."

"But you didn't."

"I remembered the importance of determination. Charlie made sure I did, but I still don't know why they would ever bother with me."

"Maybe they saw something in you that made them feel bad? You probably looked like a sad puppy."

"Who knows? I've been trying to understand it all myself for a while now. Aside from them, I cannot really say I miss anyone too much."

Yori bit her lip but kept her focus on the horizon ahead of her. All she could see was the end of a forest, train tracks that ran along the outside, and a large, grassy field. In the distance, she thought she could see events from her past play out. Events from days long gone by, such as graduation, appeared to be happening in front of her. She remembered how Skylar and Annma belittled Elric. "I can imagine," she said.

Elric didn't reply. Instead, he focused back on scanning with his binoculars. He wondered if Yori really could imagine what that was like. 

More time passed. If they had to estimate, it was likely almost dinner time, which meant their shift would end soon. 

"Elric," Yori broke the silence again, "What do you think of living here? Sharing a little hut just outside of town and all, it's not so bad, right? I mean, it's a bit of a walk to get here and back, but still."

"Certainly better living arrangements than when we were in training," he replied.

"Well, yeah, obviously."

"The ride here was the worst part. I had lived my life blissfully unaware of what manure smelled like until we traveled through... what was it, a midden?" 

"Eugh, don't remind me," Yori said, shuddering. The barrel of her rifle wiggled in turn.

"I wish I could forget things that happened to me only a few weeks ago."

"Being forgetful is one of my top talents."

"Hmm," Elric pondered, "what _are_ your top talents then?"

"I'd say, uh... hmm. I know a lot about sniper rifles, I have good fashion sense sometimes, umm..."

"Is that all?"

"It's hard, Elric! I'm thinking." Yori paused with her hand rubbing her chin. "That's all, I think."

"That's it?"

"Probably."

Elric sighed gently, not really sure what else to say at this point. Trying to convince Yori she had talents was a lesson in futility at this point. Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered. He thought it best to try and change the subject.

"So what do you want to do when we get hom--"

"Elric, I never really got to say this earlier." Yori cut him off. "Thank you for coming all this way. I know you were never really big on the whole army thing, most people aren't. I still remember that arrangement you and Nortia had, and... I don't know. I still can't really understand why you chose to do all this. All I can really say is... thank you, again. Really, Elric."

The wind blew through their hair, their ears twitching in response. Elric sighed once again. "Signing up for the army isn't exactly a light decision. We both had our reasons, but I wanted to make sure you didn't get in over your head. I was worried about you."

"You were worried? Did you think something would happen to me?" Yori asked.

"I had hoped not, but if something did and I wasn't there to help, it'd weigh on my conscience."

"So you only joined because of me, then?"

"Well, for the most part, yes. I'm very glad that we have a position with little danger involved. But if something _were_ to happen, Yori, remember th--"

"I know, I know. You've got your staff ready. You're the close combat guy, and I'm the long-range threat. We've been through this a dozen times."

"There's nothing wrong with being cautious," he insisted.

"You're not my mother," she insisted. Silence hung over them once again. It took Yori a moment to realize what she said, but even if she took it back, what difference would it make? The more time went on, the more awkward silences they had. "I know this is as safe as it gets, but I just wish something would happen."

"...Something. You wish for something to happen?"

"I'll settle for the end of our shift! Hell, I'd love to shoo someone away for standing too close to the train tracks! But no! Nobody ever comes here except us! Ever!"

Yori's emotional outburst was met with a wall of stoicism. Letting out a long sigh, she thought about how much she'd regret begging for excitement if something really _did_ happen. Ideas swirled around her mind, ideas she'd not had prior. What could possibly happen out here? If they haven't seen anyone in weeks, why would anyone come here in the next few weeks? Yeah, Yori thought. Maybe 'mundane' isn't so bad after all. 

" _Leave. Me. The Hell. Alone!_ " A voice cried out in the distance. 

Elric nearly jumped when he heard a faint screaming coming from downhill. With his binoculars at the ready, he searched for the source only to discover a small figure fleeing from the treeline near the tracks. The tracks stretched from right to left, horizon to horizon, but beside them lay a dense forest. The trees were on the opposite side of the tracks. Upon closer inspection, he could see it was a woman, possibly a young woman with... blue skin?

"That isn't a Creaden, Yori." Elric tapped her shoulder. 

Yori pulled the scope of her rifle up to her eye and peered through it. After some fine adjustments at Elric's discretion, she found the woman in question. Her scope was certainly more powerful than Elric's when it comes to long distance focus. She could make out a few more details. "Elric, she's armed. Two swords strapped to her back."

"What should we do?" Elric asked.

"I don't know. It looks like she's... running? From the woods?"

The woman cried out again. " _Don't make me use these!_ " 

Elric could faintly hear her. "I think she's being chased. Look behind her, towards the trees."

Yori tilted her scope to her left--behind the woman-- and spotted a man sprinting after her. Like her, he also had blue skin, a telltale sign that neither of them were Creaden. He was hot on her trail and, from what Yori could see, was grinning. "I don't know what's going on, Elric. They don't look like they're here to raid anything."

"We can't assume that. This could be a decoy operation for all we know." Elric said.

"I don't like this at all, Elric. Should I fire a warning shot between them?" Yori asked.

"Weapons free, Phantom Hawk," Elric replied.

Yori reached into her pouch and pulled out three rounds for her rifle. One by one she slotted them inside the chamber and locked it shut with the lever. As she held her breath, Yori led the barrel ahead of where she wanted to aim. She knew better than to aim exactly where she wanted to shoot considering the wind speed and direction, among other minor factors. She lined up the shot between the two runners, who must've been at least fifty meters apart, and--

 _Pow!_ The rifle echoed throughout the field, a large fireball momentarily visible from the barrel. If they weren't aware of Yori's position before, they were now. With a loud 'thunk,' the bullet hit the ground, leaving a small dent in the grass. The man screeched to a halt just before where the bullet had landed. The woman, however, kept running, gaining distance on her pursuer. 

"Stop running or we will fire again!" Elric shouted. 

The woman broke into an all-out sprint as if she were attracted to the gunfire. She ran faster and faster, closing the gap rapidly. 

Elric glanced at Yori, who had her sights trained on the woman. "Are you going to shoot?" He asked.

Yori's finger hesitated on the trigger. Her scope revealed the woman's startled and confused look on her face. With both hands shivering and shaking with uncertainty, she refused to pull the trigger. "I can't," she said.

The woman had reached the base of the hill, scaling it rapidly. Before long, she reached the very top of the hill. Panting, sweating, and most of all, tired, the woman leaned forward with her hands on her knees. Elric wasted no time in grabbing his quarterstaff from the ground next to him and pointing the metal tip towards her. 

"You didn't stop running. State your name and business." Elric jabbed the staff closer to the woman's throat.

"I don't have time for that stupid shit!" She paused, taking a few breaths. "Just keep me away from that asshole down there and we won't have any problems, okay?" 

"Who do you think you are, bargaining with a soldier of the standing army of Sabine?"

"A badder bitch than you could ever hope to be, soldier boy." She said between breaths.

"Alright then, Ms. Bad... Whatever. Tell us what you're doing with your friend down there." Elric barked.

"I don't think friends call each other assholes. Probably." She grunted.

"Alright, so he isn't a friend? Yori, keep your scope fixed on him. I'll handle this... this..."

"Just call me Calina, alright? Yeesh, I can tell you don't wanna say 'bitch' at all."

Yori swung her gun around to the man standing downhill. While they were all distracted, he began rushing towards them. As she swung her barrel towards him, he stopped short. "That's right, stay right there!" Yori barked, realizing she said 'right' two times in a row. Somehow that made her sound less authoritative, she thought. "If you stay still, your friend will be fine!" She said with more confidence this time.

"I told you, he's not my friend!" Calina sighed as if this was the worst thing that had ever happened to her.

Elric nudged the staff into her chest, digging into her green jacket. "Tell us what's going on. We need more information."

"Alright, fair," Calina coughed and cleared her throat. After catching her breath, she was ready to begin. "This guy--Emada--has been chasing me for weeks now. Bit of a dick move if you ask me. I was trying to live a quiet and peaceful life when this dickwad shows up and is all like, 'I want those kickass swords!'" 

"That's it?" Elric asked.

"That's the short version for pushy, annoying assholes," Calina complained.

Elric's face morphed with disgust. "You're asking us for help, then call us assholes?"

"Hey, man. I've had a pretty rough few weeks. Help a brother out, will ya? Protect and serve and all that good stuff, right?"

Yori kept her gun pointed directly at Emada's chest. Even though her finger was not on the trigger, she still felt sick to her stomach pointing her rifle at him. Whether it was nerves, excitement, or the sudden realization she could end his life right now, it made her feel sick. Her disgust emanated off of her like blood from an open wound. Unfortunately for her, Emada could smell her hesitation like a shark. He broke out into a sprint right for her, knowing she wouldn't dare pull the trigger.

Elric turned to face Yori when he saw Emada storming the hill. "Yori, don't!"

Yori's arms shook with raw fear. Her barrel swayed every which way as her finger gripping the trigger. With a quick breath, she fired her second shot into his shoulder. To her surprise, there was no sickening sound of a hole being ripped through cloth and flesh. In fact, what _did_ she hear? The bullet sailed past Emada, but it should've grazed him. 

"You really did it, huh? Wow, that could have ended really poorly for me." Emada sighed as embers rained from his shoulder. 

There was no wound, no bullet hole, nothing. All Yori could see were cinders where a bullet wound _should_ have been. Yori bit her lip as she staggered to her feet, startled by her own gunfire. "What..."

"Oh, that? That's just a fancy parlor trick of mine. You know, you're not the first person to open fire at me. Get it? Fire?" Emada chuckled. 

Calina cried out. "He's got a flame shield protecting him!"

Yori stumbled backward before falling into Elric's hands. He wrapped her arms underneath her armpits and lifted her back onto her feet. "Leave him to me, Yori. You need to get out of here, now!" 

"What about her?" Yori pointed at Calina, who was standing behind them.

"Just go!" Elric screamed.

"Ah-ah-ah!" Emada wiggled his finger. "I'm not here for you Creaden folk, I'm here for her," he pointed between Elric and Yori at Calina.

"Hey," Calina said, "you two look like army types. Aren't you supposed to help people? I'm an innocent bird, so you gotta help me!"

"She's not innocent at all. Both of you can see that, right? She stole those swords on her back," he pointed at the handles poking over her shoulders. "I just want those swords, that's all."

Elric stepped forward, "You're not a thief?"

"Oh, I might be, but I'm not here to raid any trains. That's where your jurisdiction ends, right?"

"Take whatever you're doing somewhere else," Elric grunted.

"Oh, _fuck_ that!" Calina shouted from behind Elric. In an act of desperation, she grabbed Yori by the shoulders and shook them. "You gotta believe me. He's a thief, he's definitely not the good guy! That means I am! Just threaten him or something so he stops chasing me!"

Yori was hesitant to respond. Everyone was silent as they stared at her, their eyes drilling holes into her skull. "Elric, I think we should believe her."

"That's absurd," Elric scoffed. "Who says they're not working together to distract us?" Elric kept his eyes locked on Emada.

"Did I not scream enough for you, man?! He's gonna stab me in the throat with my own swords if you don't **do something**!" Calina shouted.

Emada began walking towards Elric and Yori confidently. "Just move out of the way, you two. It's the right decision."

"Elric!" Yori cried out. "We need to help her now!" She stood her ground and aimed the barrel of her gun at Emada's chest one more time. The thought of pulling the trigger still made her feel sick but refused to pull the gun away. She believed in Calina.

Elric stared Emada down, letting him close the distance between him and Yori. Watching him get closer stirred something within him, something he hadn't really felt before. Was it... fear? No, not quite. It was more intense, more active, it was...

His fighting spirit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, all cliffhangers!


	14. Playing with Fire, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Elric, Yori, and Calina team up.

Emada walked closer with each step, grass crushed underfoot. With a snarl, Emada said, "So you're siding with her? Fine, I'll cut you down if I must."

Elric's opponent was a rather tall man but not nearly as tall as him. Elric easily had at least five inches, if not more on him. Emada, like Calina, had pale blue skin and wild, red hair. Unlike her, his hair was significantly shorter. It looked as if his idea of a haircut was taking a knife and slicing wildly until he was satisfied. Emada also wore a shaggy black tank top and ripped jeans. They looked as if they were his only good pair of clothes. 'Good' was subjective. 

Elric gripped his staff tightly, waiting for Emada to reveal his weapon. "I trust Yori, I don't trust you or your friend here. I can tell you won't leave here without a fight, so I'll stand my ground. Make your move, thief."

Yori watched closely, her rifle still pointing at Emada. The stress was affecting her aim noticeably, the barrel swaying like a tree branch in a storm. Sweat ran down her forehead as her pulse increased. The high she felt was magnitudes greater than any coffee she'd ever had.

"Come on," Calina grabbed Yori by the arm and pulled. "We gotta get outta here." 

"No..." Yori grunted, trying to break free of Calina's grasp.

"He's giving us a chance to escape, so let's go!" Calina tugged harder. She began to run away from Elric and Emada, dragging Yori with her.

There was nothing Yori wanted less than to abandon Elric. Despite her best efforts to resist, Calina was far stronger than she was. Before she knew it, Yori was a hundred meters away from Elric and Emada on another nearby hill. The hill was slightly taller in elevation than the one they had just been on, giving them a mild bird's-eye view of the situation. 

Calina let go of Yori as they came to a halt, catching their breath in the process. "Alright, listen, I know you've got a lot to say," she paused.

Yori had nothing to say. She turned to watch Elric, too scared to move at all. 

"Or not. Listen, I've got a plan. Your pal's not gonna last long against Emada with that affinity of his." 

That was the last thing Yori wanted to hear. 

"You're a good shot, yeah? We're gonna need that if we want a chance to beat Emada. With me so far?"

"Elric..." Yori couldn't stop watching.

Calina stepped in front of Yori, obstructing her view. "Hey, get your shit together, girl! You need to listen to me _now_ or your friend's gonna die. Now's not the time to clam up!" 

Yori stared wide-eyed at Calina before shaking her head. "You're right," she took a deep breath. "Elric needs my help. What's your plan?"

"Atta girl," she said, sliding over. "Alright, perch right here and keep an eye on him. If he tries to attack us, scare him off with a shot. Okay?"

"But my bullets just get torched if I shoot him," Yori said.

"Well, duh. It'll scare the shit outta him though. Maybe it'll distract him?"

"But he knows bullets won't hurt him. He's practically invulnerable."

"It's better than nothing," Calina grinned. "Just make sure you don't shoot either me or your pal by accident, okay? I'm puttin' a lot of faith in you here."

"Just go, I have you covered," Yori spoke with a newfound resolve in her voice. She watched Calina run to Elric and Emada and thought about Calina's 'plan'. It wasn't a particularly good one, but they didn't have very many options right now.

Meanwhile, Elric and Emada stared each other down. Emada had watched Calina and Yori escape. The only person standing between him and them was Elric. He knew full well that Elric wouldn't let him get any closer. The wind roared, ruffling their hair as they stared each other down. 

"Why didn't you and your girlfriend just run off? Would've been a lot easier for both of us."

"She is not my girlfriend. And I refuse to surrender to the likes of you," Elric barked. 

"Big talk. Let's see if you've got the moves to match it!" 

Emada reached into his pants pockets and pulled a pair of brass knuckles, fitting them on his fists. In one swift motion, Emada swung for Elric's head with his right fist. Elric deflected the blow using the length of his staff to knock Emada's fist away. 

"Pretty good," Emada conceded. "That staff isn't just for compensation."

Emada swung again, but Elric deflected the second blow. At least, that's what he wanted Elric to believe. Emada swung with his other fist, landing a hit right on his stomach. Elric staggered back, the force of the punch concentrated entirely on four points. 

Gritting his teeth, Elric grabbed at the spot Emada had hit him. He didn't seem to be bleeding, but he knew he couldn't take very many hits like that. If Emada hit him in the head, it could be lethal. Elric gripped tightly on his staff, holding it completely vertically, parallel to his body height. If Emada wanted to land a hit on his head, he could twirl the staff and knock it aside.

Unfortunately, Emada saw right through this. His fists went straight for Elric's stomach on both sides at once. Before his fists could make contact, Elric spun his staff counter-clockwise, his staff absorbing the blow from his punches. 

Elric quickly learned that distance was his friend. Every time he tried to take a step back, Emada took one step closer. In order to force some space between them, Elric stomped once on the ground with his foot. At first, nothing happened.

"What's that about, huh? Getting frustrated?" 

The ground in between Elric and Emada shook violently. All at once, a large disc made from solid dirt shot out from the ground below. The disc floated on its side, creating a temporary wall for Elric to gain some distance until it crumbled and fell apart. Now Elric had at least ten meters between him and Emada, well out of his punching range.

"Wow, clever," Emada said. "That's a good parlor trick."

"It is not," Elric grunted. His staff lunged forward until it hit a wall of flames emanating off of Emada's body. The staff's metal tip was scorched by the heat, forcing Elric to revoke his attack. 

"Wanna give that another shot, slick?" Emada taunted him.

Elric took three more jabs at his body, each one met with an impenetrable fire. No matter how fast he lunged, flames appeared once more. 

"You oughta stick a marshmallow on that thing. It'd be more productive than whatever you're trying to do," he chuckled with a shrug. 

"Enough!" Elric shouted with a stomp. The ground beneath him shook with a similar intensity until the land shot upwards violently. A large disc formed around his footing, launching Elric like a rocket. He ran forward towards the end of the disc, jumping at the apex of the disc launch. With his staff raised above his head, Elric swung downwards at Emada's head with a warcry. 

Emada didn't even budge.

Elric's attempt at aerial superiority was met with yet another flame wall. "No..." Elric muttered to himself before hitting the ground. He landed on his knee, ill-prepared for his emergency landing. As his knee connected with the ground, an intense pain shot through his leg up to his spine like a lightning bolt. Suddenly, his leg felt as if it were made of putty. He struggled to his feet, legs wobbling as his knee buckled under his body weight. 

Emada finally moved, taking two steps forward until he was directly in front of Elric. "You're quite the acrobat," he said, sliding his arms under Elric's armpits and lifting upwards. "I'll give you that."

Elric felt a surge of adrenaline rushing through his body. The pain he had once felt drained away like water, replaced with a burning passion. He shoved Emada away, staggering back as he did. "Leave. Us. Alone."

"Huh? Why the hell would I do that? You're _losing_. I've never seen someone suck so much at fighting! It's like you're not even trying to kill me!" Emada stepped forward again.

Elric stepped back. 

Emada stepped forward again. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Elric could see someone running up behind Emada. Was that... Calina? "Hey, you!" Elric shouted. "Why can't you just take her swords and go?! Just let her go free and take what you want!"

"That's what I've been _trying_ to tell you. I said that before but you wouldn't listen!" Emada glared, huffing.

The footsteps behind Emada grew louder, still. 

"Alright! We'll give you exactly what you want!" Elric shouted as loudly as he could. 

Emada was about to reply when he smelled scorching metal behind him. He took a quick glance behind him and saw Calina, her two butterfly swords digging deep into the flame wall behind him. "Oh, I see what you were doing. You were shouting to mask her footsteps so I wouldn't hear her. You thought I'd be vulnerable if I didn't know where I was being attacked from!"

Calina struggled against the heat, trying to brute force her way through. The flames only grew hotter the more she dug her blades in. Unable to break through, she yanked her swords out with a loud huff, taking a few steps back just to be safe. "Don't really matter, Emada. It's two on one."

"Two on one?" Emada asked. "What about your sniper friend? Or did she run away like a certain sword-stealing coward?" 

"Bitch," Calina spat.

Elric and Calina ran forward, attacking Emada from two angles. Calina thrust a blade into Emada's back while Elric jabbed his staff into his stomach. Both were met by a raging wall of fire. 

"Are you two finished yet?" Emada yawned. 

Elric stumbled back. "So you can manifest two walls at once? That's... concerning." 

"Oh for _fuck's_ sake," Calina shouted. "Elric, keep swinging at him!"

"You can't swing with a staff!" he shouted back.

"You know what I mean!"

Elric repeatedly jabbed his staff at Emada, each thrust increasing in ferocity. No matter how hard he tried to throw Emada off, the flames kept manifesting. 

Calina ran into similar problems. Every single attempt to scratch him resulted in burnt metal and failure. Calina screamed through her teeth, stomping on the ground in anger. 

Elric stopped trying to attack Emada. He knew it was an exercise in futility, and all it was doing was wasting his precious adrenaline. Taking a deep breath, he noticed Calina stomping the ground furiously. Wait, stomping the ground? "Calina, step back!"

Calina kept trying to swing wildly at Emada, her swords flying in all directions as if she were blindfolded and swinging at a piñata. She heard Elric's shout and stopped. "Why the hell should I do that?"

"Yes, Elric, why should she?" Emada asked.

Elric ran closer and stomped the ground one more time, the earth rumbling below Emada. A small platform rose from below, only about the diameter of a basketball. It shot out from the ground right underneath one of Emada's feet, knocking him off balance and onto the ground. The platform quickly faded into loose dirt, returning to the earth.

"Holy shit, dude," Calina said. "You knocked him the fuck over! Quick, grab him!" 

Elric sheathed his staff around his back and dashed forward. He bent down and tried to grab Emada by the legs to restrict his movement, but yet another flame wall formed before he could make contact. Elric's hands were blown back from the heat, nearly burning his fur off in the process. 

Emada kicked Elric away, knocking him onto his back. Slowly but surely, Emada climbed back onto his feet and dusted himself off. "Are you two finished yet?"

-

Yori crawled on her stomach until she got a clear view of the action unfolding before her. She could see Elric and Calina struggling to take down Emada, even with the numbers advantage. From her scope, she could keep a close eye on Emada's face, watching for any signs of concern or worry. 

She saw none.

_Think, Yori, think. Every power has a weakness, nobody is invincible. Surprising him wouldn't work, so what would?_

She watched Elric and Calina swing and jab their weapons at Emada to no avail. The flames only manifest when an object gets too close to him, or so she thought. When Emada kicked Elric away, no flames appeared at all. 

"That's it!" she exclaimed. Yori ruffled through her pockets, finding five more rounds to fire. She had to make these count if they had any hope of stopping Emada. "Elric, Calina... I hope you realize what I did. Please..." 

-

"I ain't going down without a fight, you punk-ass punk bitch!" Calina shouted. 

Elric could barely manage to stand anymore. It took all of his strength just to hold himself up. He was running on fumes at this point, no adrenaline to keep the pain at bay anymore. What was Yori doing? Elric thought.

 _Bang!_ A small fire ignited around Emada's feet. He didn't even look at where Yori shot him. There was no wound, anyway.

Another shot aimed right at his feet ignited once more, leaving only cinders behind. A third shot, then a fourth, then a fifth. 

Elric couldn't understand why Yori aimed for his feet. What about them...? Was she trying to convey something? Elric thought about it, turning to face Yori. He could see she was shouting, but couldn't make out the words. 

What was so special about his feet? "Wait..." Elric muttered to himself. "I see now." 

"What do you see, little dancer boy?" Emada taunted.

Yori shot once more, this time aiming for Elric's foot. The bullet landed just shy of amputating one of his toes. "I understand now, Yori," he muttered once more.

"Don't you _dare_ ignore me, worm!" Emada shouted. He swung both of his fists right for Elric's face.

Elric ducked below the jabs and stomped the ground one last time. An even smaller disc formed, shooting upward from the ground on its side. It flew skyward and uppercut Emada in the jaw before disintegrating. The raw impact knocked him upwards as well before falling back down to the earth. 

Emada bounced when he hit the ground harshly, his head hitting the ground both times. All he could see were stars enshrouding his vision as his consciousness slowly faded away. 

"Is.. is he dead?" Calina tapped his body with her foot, noticing she didn't get burned in the process. 

"No, just passed out," Elric got on his knees and pressed two fingers up to his neck. "His pulse is fine, no immediate injuries aside from a potential concussion. Maybe his pride was wounded, but there is no medicine for that."

"Hah, not bad," Calina chuckled. "For real though, should we tie him up before he comes to?"

"Good idea."

Yori ran over as fast as she could, rifle in tow. "Elric!" Yori ran up to him and knelt down, hugging him tightly. "Are you okay?"

"Ow, ow, Yori, please." Elric wanted to hug her back, but he suddenly remembered he had a sprained knee. "I am fine, but you're hurting me."

"Oh, sorry!" Yori stood up and stepped back. "Should we tie him up?"

"That's what I said," Calina shrugged. "I ain't ready for a round two."

"While we're at it..." Elric stood up and walked towards Calina. "We should tie you up as well."

"Like _fuck_ you are! I was on your guys' side! Did you not see me trying to help?"

"I did," he said, "but you aren't to be trusted. You aren't exactly a civilian."

"I'm innocent! Do you need me to spell that out for you? I-N-N-O-C-E-N-T."

"I can spell, Calina."

Elric reached into his cloth tasset and pulled out a small rope. He intended to use it for repairing Yori's rifle, but circumstances changed, he supposed. Elric flipped Emada onto his side, tying both of his hands together behind his back. Once he was done, he let Emada's body slump down. Elric stood up.

"I think we should report this and have someone take him away," Elric said.

"Good idea. Hopefully, our relief arrives soon," Yori said.

Emada coughed and sputtered, saliva flying everywhere. His eyes fluttered open, taking a few moments to refocus. All he could see was Elric, Yori, and Calina standing above him. Worse yet, he couldn't move his hands. "So this is how it ends for me? Not a spectacle, not a bonfire, but whimpering cinders of a great flame. So be it."

"You're not dying, shitlord. Just going to jail." Calina kicked Emada, but flames burnt her shoe. "Ow!"

"So that's how you got me handcuffed. How'd you know my affinity doesn't work while I'm asleep?"

"We, uh, we didn't," Yori said. "In fact, I was starting to wonder that myself. All I found out was that you could attack people, but they couldn't attack you. That's why I shot at yours and Elric's feet a couple of times. I noticed you kicked him, so I wanted him to wait for you to swing at him. It looked like your shield only works in one direction, and only from a certain distance away. Anything coming at you gets incinerated, but anything coming _from_ you is alright."

"Ah, clever girl." Emada coughed and sputtered, trying to laugh. "I should've thought twice about picking a fight with you guys."

Elric needed answers. "What is so special about Calina's swords? What drove you to challenge two trained soldiers?"

"No offense, but you two aren't soldiers. You're more like... disorganized wannabees in uniform. Who the hell trained you? They oughta be ashamed." Emada coughed again. "Oh, well. I guess it couldn't hurt to tell you."

"Go on," Elric glared at him.

"Those blades have something really special on the hilts. Calina, show 'em."

"Huh?" Calina held out both of her swords. They were butterfly swords, swords with large blades for their handle size. On one side of both of the hilts lay a gemstone: one ruby and one sapphire. "You mean reddy and bluey?"

"We were told that these might be the legendary gemstones. Surely you've heard the stories?" 

"What?" Yori's ears perked up. "S-Say that again."

"The gods' stones. The affinity jewels. Call them whatever you want, but these? They might be the real deal. You know how much these things would be worth? Priceless."

Yori walked towards Calina slowly. Her eyes were fixated on the handles, staring at the ruby and sapphire laid inside. "Are those... Are those really it? Right here, in front of me...?"

Calina stepped backward slowly. "You're not touching my swords, girl."

"Oh?" Yori swiped with her hands, wrestling the blades from her grasp. Once they were in her hands, Yori ran behind Elric and examined the blades closely. She tried to rip the ruby out of the first sword to no avail. Next, the sapphire. No matter how hard she pried, the gems were stuck. 

Yori held the handles up to her cheeks, rubbing them slowly in small circles. The tip of the blade cut at her ear gently as she did, but she didn't care or notice. When she realized she wasn't feeling any different, she placed both of the gems against her chest and chanted. "Oh, divine gods, bless me with your love. I am but a humble believer in your awesome power. Grant me an ounce of your strength, make me special..."

Elric shared a worried glance with Calina. Emada stared, amused. 

Yori still felt nothing. She repeated the chant again, this time twice as loudly. Nothing. With a frustrated shout, Yori flung the blades into the dirt below, the blades digging into the grass. "They're total fakes! You liar!" 

"I... wow," Emada chuckled in disbelief. "I should've just said that, to begin with." 

Calina silently walked behind Yori and picked up her blades one by one. She sheathed them over her shoulders in a criss-cross shape on her back. "Thanks for, uh, not breakin' 'em."

Elric patted Yori on the shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Yori sighed. "What about your knee? Or your stomach?"

"I will probably need a week or two of rest. My knee is sprained and I might have a panging stomachache, but both should subside." Elric immediately collapsed to the ground, his knee no longer sufficient to keep himself upright. 

"Elric?" Yori asked.

"I'm fine," he said, giving a thumbs up as he lay on his back. 

"I can't believe this," Emada grumbled. "You two, of all people, took me down."

"Aren'tcha forgetting someone?" Calina tapped her foot, annoyed.

"Whatever."

It didn't take much longer for Elric and Yori's relief to arrive. A pair of soldiers approached their position, noticing a tied Simenti on the ground. Elric explained the situation and requested they take Emada away, to which they reluctantly obliged. Once they left, only Elric, Yori, and Calina remained. 

"Thanks, you two," Calina sighed. "I think I can finally go back home now."

"Good," Elric said, resting his weight on Yori's shoulder. "Get out of here before we take you in as well."

"You don't mean that."

"I do."

"What about your sniper friend? What's she got to say about this? What's your name again, Yuri? Yaoi? Owie?"

"Yori," she groaned. "I trusted you were telling the truth, but you should leave. We aren't going to babysit you."

"Y'know what? That's fair. If I get into some trouble, maybe I'll come running back!" Calina smirked. She was way too eager about seeing them again.

"Don't," Elric and Yori both said in unison.

"Alright, alright. See ya later, bros!" Calina gave a short wave before running off into the distance, disappearing into the woods behind the tracks.

Elric and Yori hadn't noticed, but it was well past sunset now. How long had they been fighting Emada for? They supposed time really does fly when you're locked in battle. 

"Do you think we'll be getting overtime for this?"

"Do... do we even _get_ overtime at all?" Yori wondered.

Silence hung over them once again, just like that very same morning. It all felt so weird though; everything happening all at once. They could have sworn two days had passed, and yet it had only been one. Was being a guard always this... crazy? This hectic? Elric wasn't sure how he felt about what just happened. Yori wasn't really sure either, but she felt content that it ended peacefully. She wasn't focused on Emada at all, though. Elric could tell.

"You really thought the legendary gemstones would just... show up?" 

"I really thought for a second... I thought they were the real thing."

"I believe if we ever happen upon the actual gems, we would know instantly. Those looked cheap enough to be made of glass."

"That's not the point." Yori deflated.

Elric sighed. "We'll talk more in the morning. Could you please help walk me back?"

Yori sighed as well. "Sure thing, Elric. You were amazing."

"Not as amazing as you had been. I would never have thought about letting him swing first, then countering."

"Give yourself some credit! You knew what I was trying to tell you when I shot at your feet. That's incredible."

Elric laughed before breaking out into a short coughing fit. He'd have time to laugh when he's not in excruciating pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTSmFqrj4L8


	15. Bearer of the Burden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Elric and Yori get reassigned.

Elric's knee healed relatively quickly. All he needed was to rest it, ice it, and drink plenty of fluids. He wasn't worried about it at all, but Yori certainly was. She blamed herself for not thinking fast enough during his fight. If she had come up with her idea sooner, maybe he wouldn't have been injured at all.

Elric refuted her claims constantly, saying she did plenty for him. Unfortunately, the two could never really agree. Sometimes Elric thought Yori was even more stubborn than he was. If she was absolutely convinced of something, he could never change her mind.

Nortia had required Elric to study first aid as an extra stipulation during his training. She figured if he didn't want to take a life, he should be able to save them. While his injury was no life-or-death situation, the extra work came in handy for him. Not that he thought he'd have to apply his knowledge to himself so quickly, of course.

After a week and a half of rest and recovery, Elric was fit enough to resume active duty. He was getting bored of being bedridden all day, anyway. There wasn't much he could do to pass the time aside from talking to Yori or reading books. The books he had on hand were old, and he'd read them at least once before, but it was better than nothing. Books on first aid from his training, science fiction novels, and even cookbooks were among his collection. 

Elric was happy to resume a routine that was only slightly more boring than laying in bed all day. Sitting on a hilltop with a view was a lot more appealing than staring at a white ceiling. At least, Elric thought it was white. Perhaps it was more of an off-white? Maybe more of an ivory, or a floral white? 

The day passed with little fanfare or excitement, as was expected. The only highlight since Elric and Yori were initially stationed here was Emada and Calina. A full month of nothing but trains, grass, and more trains, if they were lucky. The sun began to set slowly but surely, sinking into the horizon as it painted a soft pinkish red. 

"Hey, Yori," Elric said. "I was thinking we could play a little game to pass the time. What do you say?"

"A game?" Yori turned her head to face Elric. She had been laying on her stomach all day and could feel the stiffness in her joints. "I'm down. Whatcha got?"

"It's called 'Bed, Wed, or Behead'. The concept is as follows: I give you three people to choose from, and you pick one to wed, one to bed, and one to behead. It's as simple as that." 

"Oh, I've actually played this before with Annma--Crow. The only difference was we called it 'Fuck, Marry, Kill'."

"How crude," he said.

Yori chuckled. "Yeah, well, we can't all be as polite as you are. Anyway, shoot."

"Was that a pun?" Elric asked.

"A pun?" Yori paused. "Oh, I get it. Shoot, like a gun. Because I'm holding a rifle," she chuckled for far too long. "Anyway, are you gonna go, or what?"

Elric paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. Should he use real people or fictional ones? Does Yori know any characters that he does? ...Does he know that many real people? Elric was getting a little flustered, realizing he was taking longer to come up with a scenario. "Alright, how about the poet Osfur Wilde, the actor Petaldi Caper, and... and.." 

"Can't think of a third person?" 

"I don't know, how about Dracula?" he shrugged.

"So Osfur Wilde, Petaldi Caper, and Dracula? Hmm..." Yori rubbed her face as she groaned. "Well, you can't kill Dracula forever. He comes back after, like, a hundred years, right?"

"I think that's how it goes. I haven't read a vampire novel in ages."

"So it doesn't matter if I kill him anyway. I don't think he'd be particularly good in bed."

"Could make for a lovely husband."

"He'd outlive me, Elric."

"But what if he turns _you_ into a vampire?"

"Argh!" Yori grunted. "We're getting sidetracked. I'm not gonna marry or screw Dracula. I'll kill him. I'll, uh, bed Osfur Wilde and wed Petaldi Caper then."

"Really? Osfur isn't marriage material?"

"I'm not really a poetry person. I liked watching Petaldi Caper perform on stage. He's so dreamy, too."

Elric shifted himself so he faced Yori. "Wasn't the last time you saw him was when you were in your teens?" 

Yori shrugged. "Probably. I wish I could watch more of his shows, but going to the theater is hard." 

"Maybe someday you'll be able to watch plays from home," he added.

"Who knows, hopefully within my lifetime. That sounds kind of farfetched, though. Like, how would I watch a live play at home?"

Elric slid closer to Yori with a sly smirk. Funnily enough, he had just read a book that explained the technology behind a certain recent invention. "You see, Yori. We already have a technology that can do something similar. We can record pictures and overlay them one at a time for the illusion of movement, but we haven't yet had sound to accompany it. The only way you could is if you had a live orchestra, but that is impractical. But now we have this machine that can capture sound as well."

"Shut. Up. No way. That's so cool!" Yori sat up straight, her back cracking as she did. 

"It is certainly true. Now what happens is the sound is printed on a separate record, then that record is spun to achieve a certain frequency to be audible. It's still a work in progress, but even pictures have sound now."

Elric and Yori continued marveling at the latest advancements in technology for what felt like hours. They had forgotten they were playing a game, to begin with. Elric was more than happy to unload all the knowledge he had accrued in the last week from studying old books, and Yori was happy to listen. 

The day drew nearer still to its conclusion, the sun had set long ago. All that remained was a pitch black night sky and a heaven full of stars above, twinkling and glistening. Despite the pretty scenery, a single thought swirled around Yori's mind.

Where was their relief?

Usually, replacement guards showed up to relieve Elric and Yori of their duty for the day, allowing them to go home and rest. They never showed up much later than a little after sunset. Now that the sky was completely dark, Yori realized something was horribly wrong. Did someone die? Maybe an injury? Or maybe another thieves guild member attacked them while they were coming? 

Before Yori could get caught up any further in her anxiety, a lone guard approached them from the distance. They were a tall Creaden, clad in a familiar Sabinese military uniform. Except theirs had full pants legs and no ghillie suit. Most soldiers didn't have absurd customizations, Yori supposed. Before long, the guard stood tall in front of them, saluting with one hand. In the other hand was a small duffel bag. 

Elric and Yori got up as well, returning the salute. 

"Good evening, you two. I'm sorry we're running late."

"We? Where's your partner?" Yori asked.

In the distance, they could hear a woman screaming in frustration, followed by a soft thud. Yori poked her head around the guard in front of her to find two people walking towards them. One was another Sabinese soldier, a woman. It seemed that she had one hand wrapped around her partner's shoulder, and the other hand hovering over her hips. Was she reaching for a gun? 

Next to the soldier was a familiar face, but Yori couldn't remember their name. 

Elric recognized them immediately. "Is that... Charlie?"

Charlie's hands were cuffed behind their back. They weren't wearing a standard Sabinese military uniform, but Elric recognized it. It was a dark outfit: a light gray, long-sleeved shirt adorned with black pockets, darker gray pants, black boots, black gloves, and a darker gray hooded shroud. They were practically invisible against the night sky. If this didn't scream 'covert operations', nothing would. Elric couldn't make out many more details than that in the dark. 

The guard escorting Charlie was red with fury. She looked as if she huffed angrily for an entire day straight. Maybe she had. "Oh, thank gods. I can be free of them," she said.

Elric and Yori shared a confused and worried glance, before turning back to face the guard standing in front of them. Before long, the female soldier dragging Charlie along arrived. 

"Ah, yes. Well, it looks like we're all here. Anyway, this is going to be a nice change of pace for you two!" The guard pointed at Elric, then Yori. "General Nortia ordered the two of us to bring Specialist Charlie to you two. She asked for you specifically. Not that I know why, but, hey, whatever," they shrugged. 

"Uh, what?" Yori tilted her head. "Why... Why is Specialist Charlie here? Are we, um, watching them?"

"Sort of. You two are to escort them to Catol to carry out a confidential mission. That's all I know, Charlie here is supposed to brief you two privately." The soldier went to pat Charlie on the back, but Charlie glared back. The soldier's hand shrank back to his side awkwardly. "Anyway, uh, good luck! You're gonna need it."

The female guard, standing behind Charlie, kicked them towards Elric like a shopping cart. "Here, take them. I've had it up to here," she raised her hand above her head, palm facing downwards, "with this... this..."

"Wonderful person?" Charlie finished, turning around to face the guard.

"You're lucky I'm not allowed to shoot you, or I would've," the guard pointed at them.

"First of all, we both know you wouldn't do that. Second, that wouldn't stop me," they said with a smirk.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRGH," the female guard stomped the ground repeatedly. "You can rot in hell! All your backtalk is driving me up a _freaking wall_! Come on, Skarloey. Let's get out of here before I kneecap them."

"Hey, wait!" Yori reached her hand out towards the two guards. "You can't just leave them and not tell us what we're supposed to do!"

"I don't care! Byeeeee!" The female guard extended her middle fingers as she walked away, waving them in the air. 

Skarloey turned and faced Yori, exhaling gently. "She means well, but she gets a little... heated."

"You don't say." Yori nodded. 

"Anyway," Skarloey said, "General Nortia was kind enough to pack spare clothes for all three of you in this bag." They dropped the bag on the ground between them and Elric and Yori. "I'll be off. Good luck!" With one last salute, he left them alone. 

Charlie stood in front of both Elric and Yori. They cracked their neck in boredom and let out a soft sigh, waiting for someone else to say something. However, nobody did. "I'm not _always_ handcuffed. Don't get the wrong idea," they said.

"Speaking of handcuffs," Elric said, picking up the bag, "who has the keys? Or are we escorting you like this?" Elric slung the bag around his back with the strap across his chest. 

Yori gasped, eyes widening. "Oh! Uh, that seems like it'd be a problem. Unless you have the keys."

"I don't," they replied.

"Don't tell me _she_ has it." Elric tilted his head, watching the female guard stomp away. 

"Hey!" Yori shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Can you toss us those handcuff keys?! Thanks!" 

The guard stopped short. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, metal ring with a single key on it. Without looking back, she tossed the keys behind her. 

Yori could tell the guard was swearing to herself, even from far away. She ran over to where the keys fell and picked them up, bringing them back to Charlie. "I got them!"

"I saw," they said.

The key dangled from Yori's fingers. She examined the key closely, noticing it was pretty rudimentary. It almost felt... cheap? Basic? "So, Specialist Charlie--"

"Just Charlie is fine, thanks."

"Alright, Just Charlie..." Yori giggled. "You're supposed to brief us, yes? Why don't we start there?"

Charlie noticed Elric's knee was wobbling a little bit. They also noticed Yori couldn't help but steal glances at his knee as well. "Is something wrong with your knee?" 

"I got into an altercation. No need to be alarmed," he reassured. 

"You should probably take a knee. This briefing could take a little while." 

Elric took that as an order and got down on his good knee almost immediately. He let out a gentle sigh of relief as he felt the pressure slowly dissipate, relieving him of his mild, yet annoying pain. 

Yori was the next to take a knee, still concerned that Elric was overexerting himself. Once again, she took another quick glance at his knee, just making sure he was okay. 

Charlie cleared their throat and began their briefing. "As you may remember, I'm one of General Nortia's finest specialists. She gave me a mission to gather intel in Catol. All you two need to do is bring me to a certain location and let me do my work. There's no need to get in my way or try and help me out, just escort me. I would have been allowed to go by myself, but General Nortia doesn't trust me completely, I suppose."

"Is that because you broke into her office?" Elric asked.

"Perhaps. In any case, that's where you two come in. She knows you're armed, Corporal Bellevoir, and a sharpshooter to boot. Even if I got a headstart, I think you'd be able to strike me down with the might of a furious god," Charlie said.

"I don't know about that," Yori blushed. "I'm not that good." 

"General Nortia spoke very highly of you, Corporal. PFC Inocencio-"

"I already know what Nortia has to say about me, thank you." Elric interrupted.

"In any case," Charlie huffed, "we're getting sidetracked. The next train to Catol leaves in about twenty minutes, and we're about a ten-minute walk to the nearest station. I can explain more while we walk there."

Before Elric or Yori could ask any more questions, Charlie began to walk away. They strolled casually down the hill, despite their handcuffs. 

Yori could swear they were humming. She caught up quickly, walking right behind Charlie as they led the way.

Elric was not far behind Yori, forming a straight line with Charlie as the leader. 

"So, any other questions?" Charlie asked.

"How long will we be in Catol?" Yori asked.

"Hopefully not too long. Also, sudden or not, it's your duty as soldiers to follow orders, is it not?" 

"That's quite the non-answer," Elric chimed in. "Days? Weeks? Months?"

"A few weeks. Think of it like a nice vacation. You just have to keep me company while I do my job." Charlie said.

"So General Nortia wants us, in full uniform, to take a handcuffed prisoner/specialist to a neighboring country, while also carrying loaded weapons?" Elric asked. 

"Catolese and Sabinese soldiers pass through both countries all the time. It's a sign of good faith between the two nations."

"This sounds ridiculous," Elric said. "Yori, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I mean, if General Nortia chose us specifically, and she ordered us to, then we don't really have a choice, do we?"

"We could find Skarloey and their friend, maybe they could take Charlie instead?" 

"No," Charlie said. "General Nortia asked for you two specifically. I don't think you're in much of a position to disobey any further orders, Elric." Charlie craned their head back to face him. 

Elric shook his head, grumbling to himself quietly. "What about all of our stuff at our lodge, Yori?" 

"Oh, yeah. You have a lot of books and stuff there, don't you?"

"And my medical equipment. Granted, I do have some stuff on hand, such as bandages, a few needles, gauze, pins, some gloves..."

"You're a walking first aid kit."

"But my books, Yori."

"Just buy some books in Catol," Charlie interrupted.

In the distance, a train station crawled towards them. It wasn't anything special, just a simple hub for incoming and outgoing trains. A small, stone and brick platform flanked either side of the tracks, with a small ramp leading up from the grass below. On the platform were small poles with stone awnings, shielding patrons from any unpleasant weather. 

A single steam locomotive waited at the platform, its size nothing short of grand. It was easily twice the size of even the tallest of Creaden. The red cow-catcher stood firm at the front of the train, just below the buffers. The main body, from buffer to boiler, was a splendid crimson. Vertical, golden lines scored the boiler like seams on a football. A driver stepped down from the cab and began shoveling coal into the tender. 

Passengers of all sorts waited at the platform for the train to depart. A whoosh of steam shot out from behind the wheels, filling the entire station with its white smoke. The doors to the train opened, and all the passengers at the station began piling in, filling each car one by one. Conductors blew their whistles as each car filled to capacity. 

Charlie stopped just short of the platform, waiting for Elric and Yori to catch up. Somehow they had managed to walk further ahead of both of them. "Which car do you two want? I think the caboose is a good place for lawbreaking scum such as myself." If Charlie could place their hand on their chest, they would've.

Yori glanced at Elric, who looked just as befuddled as she was. "Uh, I guess that's fine...?"

Charlie began walking towards the opposite end of the platform. It looked as though it stretched for miles thanks to the steam clouding around the ground. 

Elric pulled Yori aside while they had a moment to themselves. "Yori, do you trust Charlie?"

Yori glanced towards Charlie, then back at him. "I mean, I trust General Nortia. Plus, they're handcuffed."

"I don't really trust either of them, in all honesty. I don't think there's any immediate danger if we just escort them to Catol, but we are not going to involve ourselves in anything else along the way. Alright?" Elric rested his hand on Yori's shoulder.

"Jeez. You're more overbearing than my parents. We'll be fine, Elric." Yori grabbed Elric's arm and moved it off her shoulder. "I appreciate the concern, but still. General Nortia wouldn't let us get in over our heads, would she?"

Elric didn't respond; instead, he stared blankly at her.

"Don't look at me like that. I know she was really tough on you, but she meant well!"

Charlie stopped walking and turned around. "Are you two coming? The train's about to leave."

Yori nudged Elric. "Let's go."

The two caught up with Charlie quickly. They all began to walk towards the very end of the station until they reached the caboose and met with one of the conductors. Charlie explained how they needed to board the train immediately, and that it was important military business. If the conductor wanted to charge them for tickets, they could send the bill to Nortia herself. 

After some bickering and convincing, the conductor let all three board the caboose. It, like the train before it, was a splendid crimson with yellow accents adorning the sides. The car was relatively short, with only three windows on either side providing any sort lighting to the interior. 

On the inside was a shockingly hospitable living arrangement. There was a boiler in the middle-left of the room next to three black cushions. They were long enough to fit at least two or three people sitting down. There was not much else in the way of furnishing, but then again, it was a caboose. It was hardly meant for much more. 

Charlie was the first to sit down on a cushion, facing the boiler. Warm air radiated off of it, a welcome change from the cool night air they had been dealing with for the last few hours. They let out an audible sigh of relief as they relaxed, shifting in their seat until they were comfortable. 

Elric sat on the cushion right next to Charlie, laying his quarterstaff on its side against the wall, along with the duffel bag of clothes. His hand reached down to his stomach, grasping gently. Not that he'd admit it openly, and especially not to Yori, but his stomach still ached from when Emada punched him. His knee was not much better either, but he could manage just fine. He didn't want to worry Yori unnecessarily. 

Yori lay her rifle on the cushion next to the boiler. She took off her ghillie jacket and vest, leaving her in her long-sleeved shirt, camouflage pants, and boots. "I'm going to go speak to the conductor real quick. I'll be right back, okay?"

Elric nodded. "I'll keep a close eye on them." 

Yori opened the caboose door and stepped out, the door closing behind her. She walked across the (somewhat precarious) connecting bridge into the next car over. 

After an eternity of silence, Charlie whispered to Elric. "Reach into my left pocket." 

"Hm? Why?"

"I need you to trust me, and I think what's in my pocket will help." 

"It isn't some sort of trap, is it?"

"Nothing of the sort," they insisted. 

Elric reached his hand down, guiding it slowly until his fingers grasped at the edge of their pocket. From what he could feel, there was a small, circular shaped object and nothing else inside. He reached in gently and pulled out a silver ring, unadorned with any jewelry. "A ring?"

"Look at the engraving on the inside." 

It was a small ring, meant to be fit for someone with fingers smaller than Elric's. The ring was split into two halves, folding over each other like a helix. It had collected more than a fair share of dirt and grime from years of disuse. Elric scratched at the inside until he uncovered writing on the underside.

A.I.

"Aurora Inocencio...? Those are my mother's initials." 

Charlie didn't say anything.

"Why... why do you have my mother's ring? Why did it only _just_ come into my possession now? Neither my aunt nor uncle had it." Elric began to speak up.

Charlie shushed him. "Don't mention this to Yori."

"Why not?" Elric said, quieter. 

"You look like the type who doesn't let your friends... friend, worry about your problems. Let her be. This doesn't have anything to do with her."

Elric inhaled, about to retort, but exhaled in defeat. "Alright. Could you tell me why you have her ring? I need to know."

"I... I came across it one day. I saw it was engraved and thought it would hold sentimental value to whoever lost it. Funny that it should be your mother. Now I can rest easy knowing that it's back where it belongs."

"It isn't on my mother's finger. She's been dead for sixteen years. It belongs to her." Elric held the ring in his finger and thumb, holding it up to his eye. 

Charlie's expression darkened. "Yeah, you're right. I couldn't find her, I suppose that's why. Better it's with you than on the black market, or something."

"Where did you find it, Charlie? Please, I have to know."

The caboose door creaked open as Yori stepped inside. "I'm back!" she said, closing the door behind her. 

Elric clutched the ring in his hand and rested it at his side. "Tell me later," he whispered to Charlie.

Yori walked over and sat down next to her rifle, stroking it gently. She rested it in her lap and reached into one of her jacket's pockets, pulling out a small cloth and wood polish. With a soft hum, she began to wipe away at the stock and frame, cleaning it and making it shine. 

"How long does it take to reach Catol? Did you ask the conductor that?" Elric asked.

"About sixteen hours. We'll be leaving soon, he said. It's around...twenty-one hundred hours? We'll be there tomorrow around thirteen hundred hours. Get comfortable, it's going to be a long trip."

"We should probably turn in for the night soon, then," Charlie suggested.

"How are you gonna sleep with handcuffs on?" Yori said.

"I'm used to it." 

Charlie leaned back against the wall behind them and rested their head against it. Their hood acted as an incredibly thin and slightly itchy pillow, but it beat cold metal. 

Elric removed his uniform's vest and folded it up, using it as a pillow as he lay on his side. He removed his cloth tasset as well, laying it aside. As he did, he took a quick glance at the ring in his hand, slipping it onto his left pinky finger. It managed to fit, but just barely. 

Yori curled up on her side as well, mimicking Elric. 

The three of them closed their eyes slowly as the train let out a long, loud whistle, jolting all of them awake. Not long after the whistle, steam whooshed out from behind the wheels once again as the train roared into motion. The wheels creaked and groaned as they spurred to life, dragging the entire train forward. 

Onwards, to Catol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear Charlie,
> 
> How do you sleep with handcuffs on?


	16. Hungry on Train

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, breakfast is served.

The train chugged along the rails with a rhythmic clickety-clack. Each car shifted and swayed at every little twist and bend, gently rocking the passengers inside. Telegraph poles linking Sabine and Catol ran parallel to the tracks, an indication of a growing trust and connection between the two nations. Green hills and forests rolled past the windows like a dreamscape while an imposing mountain lay behind it all. Indeed, the trip was peaceful to all. 

The sun had risen a few hours ago, but Elric and Yori had slept through sunrise. Charlie, however, had been awake for most of the night. All they did was cast an unfocused gaze out the window and watch the sunrise. 

Elric was the first to awake, eyes fluttering open as he lay on his side. Slowly he raised his head from the seat cushion and sat up straight. He yawned and stretched outward, rubbing his eyes once he was done. He could see Yori was still sound asleep in front of him, but Charlie was wide awake. What was Charlie staring at, exactly? Yori? The boiler? The window? Elric couldn't really tell, but he thought Charlie to be quite unnerving. Intentionally or not, they had a certain air of... arrogance? Elric wasn't sure.

After an uncomfortably long time, Charlie blinked. That was the first normal thing Elric saw Charlie do today, and he'd been awake for at least five minutes. He'd barely even seen Charlie _breathe_ this whole time. 

"Good morning," he whispered.

Charlie nodded in response.

Elric slowly became aware of an unfamiliar pressure on his left pinky finger. When he looked at his hand, he saw his mother's ring in his possession. A familiar silver band, unadorned with gems, but adorned with sentimental value. He had almost forgotten Charlie gave it to him. Why? That was another question he wanted to be answered, but he didn't want to wake Yori. He stared at the ring again, twisting his hand all around. It looked nice, he thought. Maybe when he returned to Sabine, he could return it to his mother's grave--where it belonged.

Elric sighed gently as he stood up straight, beginning his morning aerobics session. Every morning, Elric would wake up (usually at dawn) and stretch his body. The last thing Feat Feet would want is to be stiff and rigid when he needs to be loose and free. Even in a train, a lithe and limber body could be a valuable asset. Usually, he would go outside his and Yori's little cottage and practice some leaps as well. However, cabooses were hardly ideal for any sort of acrobatics.

Yori was the next to awake, stirring from her slumber gently. She yawned loudly, loud enough to grab both Elric's and Charlie's attention. "Good morning!" she huffed. 

"Good morning, Yori," Elric said.

Yori picked herself up and stood tall, stretching her entire body just as Elric had done. As soon as she was finished, she bent over her seat and snagged her rifle, caressing it like she would a lover. She even planted a kiss on the barrel. 

A public display of rifle affection wasn't something Charlie had expected to happen today. They stared at Yori with a blank expression, but deep down they were... confused, more than anything.

Yori finished her mating ritual and put on her military vest and boots. "I'm hungry, what's for breakfast?" she asked. 

"We'd have to check the dining car," Elric said, cracking his knuckles. 

"You hungry, Charlie? Oh, uh, I can call you Charlie, right? Or did you prefer Specialist Charlie?" Yori asked.

"Charlie is fine," they sighed.

"But is Charlie hungry? Heh," Yori giggled to herself. 

Charlied said nothing.

Neither did Elric.

"...Ooookay then. Tough crowd. Uh, hey, Elric. How long until we reach Catol?"

Elric began dressing as well, putting on his boots. In his morning stupor, Elric had put his boots on before his pants. He sighed with disappointment, removing his boots to try one more time. "I'd say we're about halfway there. It looks as though the sun rose not too long ago. Assuming nothing slows us down, we should be there within the next eight hours, give or take."

Yori could feel her stomach growling with impatience and hunger. "Can we go eat? I don't think I'll last until noon."

Charlie cleared their throat, directing Elric and Yori's attention towards them. "Forgetting something?"

"Oh, right. Your handcuffs. You can't exactly eat with them on, can you?" Elric asked.

"I can, but not very well," Charlie said, face as expressionless as ever. 

Yori began to imagine Charlie cooped up in a cold jail cell, their back against a stone wall and handcuffed. Then, a guard walked in and dropped a sloppy bowl of soup on the concrete floor, backing away slowly and locking the cell again on the way out. Once the guard was gone, Charlie scooped the bowl off the ground with both feet like a monkey, pouring the broth into their mouth. 

Then Yori began to imagine what Charlie would do if they were served something less watery, like steak. Did they serve steaks in Nortia's... prison? The thought just hit Yori that Nortia even has jail cells at all. She hadn't been all that familiar with most of the military base, only the training grounds, her bunk, and maybe a few other buildings. She didn't remember seeing anything that looked like cells, but Charlie had to have been kept somewhere. Now Yori was curious.

But still, she was too intimidated to ask. She reached into one of her jacket pockets and pulled out the key to Charlie's handcuffs. "Promise you'll behave?"

"I've seen Charlie walk around without handcuffs before, Yori. They'll behave," Elric said.

Yori knelt down and grabbed one of Charlie's wrists as they spun around in their seat. Key in hand, Yori poked the tip of the key into the lock and twisted it, releasing the clasps as the cuffs fell to the floor with a clang. 

Now free, Charlie rubbed their wrists with either hand. "Much better." 

"Ready for some breakfast?" Yori asked.

"Do they serve steak? I could go for something fancy after all of the soup I've had the last few months." Charlie stood up straight and began to lean against the opposite wall, stretching their back. After that, they began to stretch both legs, kicking the air in front of them rhythmically. 

Yori thought about how cool it was to be right about the soup. 

Elric and Yori could hear just how stiff Charlie's body had gotten. It sounded almost unnatural. They were used to cracking their necks, knuckles, and not much else. Charlie's entire body creaked and groaned like an unoiled machine. 

"Only one way to find out," Yori said as she picked up her rifle from her seat. She slung it over her shoulder and opened the caboose door. "Let's go!"

Elric watched Yori dart down the car ahead of them, her tail swaying from side to side. Unfortunately for all the passengers that Yori passed by, her tail whacked each of them in the side. Sighing, Elric said, "I had better go apologize to them."

Charlie watched Elric approach each passenger, offering a complete and total apology for any inconvenience his fellow soldier may have caused them. Watching Elric bow to each passenger with all the grace of a butler was almost funny. Almost.

After passing through a few more cars, Yori reached the dining car. She could tell she was in the right place because of the heavenly aroma permeating the car. Was that stew she smelled? She wasn't that fond of stew, but it smelled delightful anyway. 

On both sides of the car were square wooden tables with a white cloth draped over them. Each table had two or four seats, depending on the size of the table. However, there was just one small problem: there weren't any free tables. In fact, only one of them had any free seats, and someone was already sitting there.

A waiter walked up towards Yori in a fancy-yet-less-fancy-than-expected tuxedo, his hands behind his back. "I apologize, ma'am, but we do not allow firearms in the dining car. Would you please escort it back to your seat?"

"But... But I always eat with my rifle..." Yori bit her lower lip anxiously.

Elric and Charlie weren't far behind Yori. They caught up relatively quickly, considering Elric insisted on apologizing to half of the passengers on the way there. His apologies became a lot more efficient on the way. "What seems to be the problem, Yori?"

The waiter looked past Yori and saw Elric and Charlie standing behind her. "Ah, I was just explaining our policy about firearms in the dining car. It's safer that way," the waiter explained.

Elric stepped closer to the waiter, standing next to Yori. "Actually, I think it's safer in Yori's hands than it would be otherwise. She's a trained markswoman for Sabine's army, and her rifle is military-grade technology. This kind of weapon should not be left alone where civilians may access it. It's safer this way, don't you think?" Elric said with a hint of teasing in his voice.

The waiter definitely wanted to argue that point, but wouldn't dare question a soldier. His shoulders drooped as he sighed in defeat. "Very well. Please, take your seats." The waiter gestured towards the only open seats in the car. 

The table sat in the far right corner. A Simenti woman with her face buried in a newspaper sat in the corner seat, flicking through pages every so often, oblivious to the world around her. 

"Do we really have to share?" Yori complained.

"Unless you want to eat in the caboose, this will have to suffice," Elric said.

"I wouldn't mind that at all, actually..." Yori sighed.

Charlie walked past Yori towards the corner table. They took the seat facing the newspaper-reading woman and sat down immediately. In front of them was a simple menu made from cheap parchment paper. They sighed and squinted at the menu, both disgusted and disappointed by the lack of food choices.

The waiter turned to look at Charlie, then back at Elric and Yori. "I suppose you should take your seats now," he bowed before walking into the kitchen. 

Elric was the next to take his seat, pulling up right next to Charlie. He, like Charlie, stared at the menu in disappointment. Maybe there was another side to the menu he was missing? He flipped it around and, to his dismay, found nothing. "All I can see here are variants on stew and soup. Hardly ideal." Elric scoffed.

Well, eating at a table couldn't be that bad, Yori thought. She pulled up the seat facing Elric and shared his sentiments. "Oh, they don't have any salads, Elric. What're you going to eat?"

"I suppose a soup would be fine." 

"What about you, Charlie?" Yori asked.

Charlie didn't answer. 

"Not feeling talkative today, are we?" Elric said.

Still no answer. 

"Sorry..." Yori said sheepishly. Somehow she felt she had offended Charlie. 

The waiter walked to the table, pen and paper in hand. "What would you like to order, sir?" 

"This stew right here," Elric asked, tapping his finger against the paper menu, "does it have meat in it?"

"It does, but we can cook it without meat for you."

"Splendid. I will have that."

The waiter scribbled down Elric's order on his paper. One meatless stew.

"So fussy..." Charlie muttered.

"Excuse me?" he asked. "I'm not big on meat."

The newspaper-reading woman giggled. Her newspaper trembled in her hands until she regained her composure.

"And you, ma'am?" The waiter turned to face Yori.

"I'll... um... I'll have the... I'll take the onion soup," Yori said. 

The waiter scrawled Yori's order down. "And you?" The waiter turned his attention to Charlie.

Charlie was still focused heavily on the meager menu in front of them. Their eyes scanned its disappointingly limited offerings from top to bottom multiple times. "One of everything, please."

"I-I beg your pardon?" The waiter asked.

"One of everything. I'm _very_ hungry." 

The waiter scribbled 'hungry' on his paper. "Alright then," he said as he collected everyone's menus. "I will be right back." 

Yori stared at Charlie while the waiter left. "You ordered... everything?"

"I haven't eaten well in months. I'm a growing person," they waved their hand in the air dismissively. 

"Elric, can we afford that?" Yori stared at Elric, her eyes begging for his help.

Elric reached into one of his many pockets and felt around for his wallet. Calling it a wallet might have been a little bit of a stretch. It was more like an elaborate coin purse. From what he could feel with a quick few taps, he had enough, if just barely. "We should be fine."

"Do you think they give military discounts?" Yori wondered to herself. They should, right?

"I had thought General Nortia paid you well enough to afford anything." Charlie glared at Yori. "After all, you're one of her favorites."

A bead of sweat trickled down the back of Yori's neck. Charlie _did_ have a point. If she were one of Nortia's favorites, shouldn't she feel like it? Yori never really felt that way at all now that she thought about it. 

"Charlie, we can afford it," Elric said sternly. 

Charlie leaned back in their seat, rocking it on its hind legs. Their hands wrapped around behind their head, elbows outstretched. "Noted."

"Good," he sighed. "Let us have a pleasant meal. I hope they remember not to give me meat in mine."

The woman at the table began cackling like a hyena. In her laughter, she had nearly dropped her newspaper onto the table. 

"I beg your pardon?" Elric turned to face the woman. He couldn't see her face at all. "Did I say something funny?"

"Nah," she waved her hand. As she did, the newspaper drooped on one side, giving Elric a quick glance at her face. She quickly picked the paper back up to stop anyone else from seeing what he had.

"I... I don't believe it," he said. "Yori, it's Calina. She's sitting next to you!"

Yori leaned backward and pulled the newspaper out of Calina's hands. "Oh, my gods. Calina?! What the..."

"I share Yori's sentiment," Elric said, folding his arms. "What are you doing here, Calina? How did you get on board?"

Calina sat up in her seat, cracking her neck as she did. "Long story, actually. I got really bored after a while, so I wanted to catch up! I saw you two hopping on the train here and thought, 'why the hell not?' So then I did!" she said with a wide grin.

"How did you pay for a ticket?" Elric asked.

"With money. Duh." 

" _Your_ money?"

Calina shrugged. "It was mine when I had it."

Charlie hadn't noticed or cared what was going on. All they could think about was having a filling meal for once. Even soup would be pleasant in bulk. They rocked in their seat to an unsteady beat, oblivious to the world around them.

"Calina..." Elric muttered with his palm in his face. "I don't approve of your actions."

"Don't really care! I'm just glad to see you two! Oh, and you brought a friend!" Calina leaned forward in her seat, hands on the table. They were impressed by Charlie's outfit. It looked pretty edgy. "Whoa, you look like you bite." Calina glanced at Yori. "Whos the hell's this?" she pointed at Charlie.

"You, uh, you could ask them yourself." Yori wanted nothing to do with that conversation at all.

Calina glanced towards Charlie and held out her hand. "Heya, I'm Calina. Some folks call me 'thieving scum 'or a 'bad bitch', but you can just call me... dreamy." Calina said with her hands up against her chest 

Charlie leaned back in their chair further, staring at the ceiling. They rocked their chair with their foot, arms folded as they ignored Calina. 

"Hey, I'm talkin' to you, pal." Calina leaned even closer, her finger hovering right in front of Charlie's chest. 

Charlie planted the chair back on the ground. They grabbed Calina's wrist and yanked her close, causing her body to crash against the table violently. Luckily for Calina, the table was left unset. "Try me," Charlie growled. After a pregnant pause, they released her.

Calina retracted her arm like a wounded animal. She sat down, humbled by Charlie's raw strength. "Alright then. You two got a badass for a friend. I see how it is."

"That's Charlie," Elric explained. "We're escorting them to Catol. That's all we can really say."

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold. On. You're telling me _you're_ escorting _them_?" Calina was about to point at Charlie again but stopped short. "I thought it was the other way around. You're thinner than a starved twig." 

"...That isn't a compliment, is it?" Elric asked.

"Eat your big meat so you'll grow thick and strong, like me." Calina flexed. Her sleeveless jacket helped accentuate her biceps. 

Yori couldn't help but stare at Calina's flexing. It was oddly hypnotic. Yori then found herself staring at Calina's midriff, realizing she also had abs. Or at least, something like abs. Yori was transfixed. 

Wow, she thought. I'm gay. 

Elric noticed Yori's gaze falling down Calina's body. Rushing into action, he snapped his fingers to save her from a potentially awkward situation. "Yori, I realized something."

"...What is it, Elric?" Yori asked, still kind of dazed. She thought for a second before realizing what Elric meant. "Calina," Yori turned to face her, "you said you'd come after us if you were in trouble, right?"

"Yup," Calina nodded.

"And you said you followed us onto this train?" 

"Yuppers."

"So you decided to come after us?"

"Yessir."

"...Because you're in trouble?"

Calina hesitated for a brief moment. "...Maybe."

Before Yori could say anything else, the waiter returned. In his hand was a large silver platter with a dozen bowls of soups and stews. He first lay a meatless stew in front of Elric, bowing as he did. Next, he placed the onion soup in front of Yori, bowing for her as well. Finally, he unfolded a metal stand, placing the silver platter on top of it. He slid the impromptu table towards Charlie and said, "I couldn't fit all of your food on the table, as you can tell. I should hope this is enough." The waiter then pulled out a small set of forks and spoons from his inner pocket, placing a set for everyone on the table. 

"Thank you," Elric said.

The waiter bowed one more time for good measure and returned to the kitchen. 

Charlie was quick to grab the nearest bowl on the platter, spilling drops as they dragged it onto the table. They picked up a spoon but quickly discarded it. Instead of pesky utensils, Charlie yanked the bowl to their face and slurped the soup like a dog. 

Yori stared in transfixed horror. Calina couldn't help but be impressed. 

"Can you do that with your feet?" Yori asked, wondering if her imagination had been more accurate than she thought.

"I can do plenty of things with my feet," Charlie said between slurps.

Elric stared at his stew with a furrowed brow. Something felt... off about this stew. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but something wasn't right. He picked up his spoon and stirred it around the bowl, watching his reflection in the stew cloud up. After a quick stir, he set his spoon down. 

"Is something wrong, Elric?" Yori asked, slurping on her soup. 

"I'm not sure. I feel... unease," he said.

Calina grabbed the bowl and slid it over to her side, taking his spoon with it. "If you don't want it, I'll eat it." 

"I thought you liked big meat, Calina?" Yori giggled.

"Hey! I didn't say that!" Calina retorted defensively.

"I'll be right back," Elric said, promptly excusing himself from the table. He stood up and pushed his seat into the table gently. "I'm going to speak to the waiter," he walked towards the kitchen and disappeared behind a set of double doors. 

Meanwhile, Charlie had begun helping themself to their fourth bowl of twelve. Yori had gotten surprisingly used to watching Charlie devour soup like a starved animal. Bowl after bowl made their valiant sacrifice to a noble cause: satiating Charlie's insatiable appetite. The only limit to their gluttony was the number of bowls that could fit on a single platter. 

Elric burst through the kitchen's double doors and ran towards the table. "Everyone, I have some news. Listen closely."

Calina was halfway done with her (or, actually, Elric's) bowl of stew when she stared at him. "So dramatic..." she said as she wiped broth from her lips. 

"There's something very... _strange_ going on. I spoke to the kitchen staff and found out they had a complete menu planned. They planned to serve multiple-course meals but didn't have the ingredients to do so."

"Okay...?" Calina asked, not getting his point.

"All of their other foods were discarded before they could prepare it. That's why the menus only have soups and stews."

"Are we supposed to be worried or something?" Calina huffed. 

"You said you were being chased, Calina. How do you know this isn't the work of an enemy affinity?"

"An enemy affinity...?" Yori brought her hand to her chin. "It depends on who's chasing Calina. If it's a Simenti, then we have to worry about, erm..."

"We Feasts, Yori." Elric reminded. 

"Right!" Yori snapped her fingers. "Water, earth, fire, energy, air, spirit, time, space. Simenti have water, fire, time, and energy. Creaden get the rest. Calina," Yori leaned forward on the table, tilting her head to her left, "who's chasing you?"

"Someone from the Guild, like Emada," Calina grumbled. "I don't even really remember him, to be honest."

"Alright, Calina. We'll help you out."

"Yori," Elric interrupted, "I'm not particularly interested in helping her again. I'm more interested in making sure their little skirmish doesn't cause any collateral damage."

"You can't be serious, dude!" Calina slammed her fists against the table. "I tried not coming back for help, but guess what? It's fucking hard! I can't even go back to my shitty little tent in the woods cause I'm getting ambushed constantly! I don't want your help either, but I'm desperate enough to ask anyway!" Calina sulked back in her seat with her arms crossed.

Yori glared at Elric disappointedly. "Let's help her out. It's the right thing to do, isn't it?"

"Alright, fine." Elric rubbed his forehead. "She can help us dispatch the thief before they cause any commotion."

"Damn right!" Calina shouted, pumping her fist in the air.

"Shouldn't you be keeping a low profile? Isn't that why you had the newspaper in the first place?" Elric asked.

"Well, you guys're here now. I don't have to keep hiding."

All at once, everyone turned to face Charlie. Empty bowls were stacked on the platter next to the table haphazardly. Charlie let out a gentle burp into their sleeve. Despite the absurdity of their appetite, they still seemed hungry. "You said a thief is chasing you? Do you mean one from the Guild?"

"Yes, actually," Elric said. "And so is Calina."

"I _was_ a thief, but they chased me out. They wanted my swords 'cause they got fancy-looking gems in them, but they're nothing special. They still won't leave me alone! Bastards..." Calina explained.

"I see..." Charlie rubbed their chin. "It sounds like they mean business if they keep sending people after you. If I heard correctly, you three dealt with another thief before?"

"That's right. His name was Emada," Yori said.

"Interesting. If your friend is as dangerous as you're implying, we may have to kill them," Charlie said. 

"Absolutely not." Elric slammed his fist on the table, causing some soup to bounce around in their bowls. "We can restrain them until we reach Catol. Nobody has to die."

"I knew you wouldn't be a fan of that idea. The point remains: I need to reach Catol before a certain point in time. Any delays could be disastrous," Charlie said.

"We'll do our best to make sure it doesn't come to that," Elric said. "What should we do now, then? Split up and look for anyone suspicious?"

"Calina, I know you said you don't really remember who's chasing you, but can you tell us what they look like at least? Anything at all would help."

Calina tapped her snout, thinking. "Hmm... He was a Simenti, that much was clear. Light blue skin, dark blue hair--it was kinda wavy I think--and average height. That's all I can remember."

Elric was about to say something when the remaining two bowls on the table began to shake. A little bit of wobble was normal--they _were_ on a train, after all. But this was unnatural. Elric peered into Yori's onion soup and saw the broth swirling around. Little strands of onion formed into what appeared to be... letters? Elric tried to read them aloud.

"Good luck... What does that mean?" Elric stared, confused at the bowl. 

The strands of onion in the soup began to twirl around once more, reshaping themselves to form a different phrase.

"I... C... U?" Elric read aloud.

"If he's a Simenti, then he might have a water-based affinity..." Yori's heart dropped in her chest. "Elric, I think he can see us through the soup."

The onions swirled around once more, forming into a final phrase. It was almost like a reward for Yori's clever deduction. 

Elric took a breath, ready to read the message aloud once again. "It looks like a... greater than symbol? Like in math? It says 'greater than one' here."

"Oh, my gods." Yori cupped her hand in front of her mouth. 

"What's he mean?!" Calina shouted, slamming her fist on the table.

Yori took a deep breath. "There's more than one thief on board."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Die Calina, Die?'
> 
> No, that's German for... The Calina, The.


	17. Enigma Express

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, things get explosive.

"So how do we tackle this, exactly? We have no idea how many thieves are on board; all we have is the description of one of them. We don't even know where they could be." Elric was frustrated, understandably so. 

Elric, Yori, Calina, and Charlie sat at the table, leaning on their elbows. Calina overturned Yori's soup bowl and ate the rest of Elric's just so the thief (or thieves?) couldn't taunt them anymore. She might also have been a little hungry, but she wouldn't exactly admit to that. 

Elric flipped a menu over and began scrawling on the back a crude map of the train. Right now, they were all in the dining car. Ahead of them was about a half dozen cars, and behind them around three, not including the caboose. Were the thieves all on one side of the dining car, or did they split up evenly on both sides? Did they intend a pincer attack the dining car or did they plan to watch them split up and ambush a smaller group? 

Things were hardly ideal, to say the least. 

"So what're we gonna do, huh? I got my swords, she's got her gun," Calina pointed at Yori, "but you two are dead weight."

Charlie glared at Calina.

"Er, well, maybe _you're_ not, but you're unarmed. So's Mr. Short Shorts over here." 

"I'll have you know these shorts allow for feats of--"

"Blah blah blah, don't really care. Unless you can triple salchow backflip into a pirouette in a train car, I don't wanna hear it," Calina said, dismissing Elric.

"...I could try," he pouted.

"We're getting sidetracked," Yori interrupted. "Elric is unarmed and his affinity is no good in a train car. Unless we plan on fighting outside, he'll be useless without his staff. My rifle is dangerous in an enclosed space--does anyone here want tinnitus?" Yori glanced all around, watching everyone shake their heads. "Our only effective weapons are Calina's swords. Unless..." Yori looked at Charlie. "How well can you fight hand-to-hand?"

Charlie crossed their arms and leaned back in their seat. They flicked open one of the pockets on their chest and reached in, pulling out a metal piece and threw it on the table. They reached back in again and threw out another piece, again and again, until all the parts were laid out. 

They were gun parts. A disassembled handgun lay on the table in front of them. 

"Charlie, where did you get this? We were never told you were armed," Elric gasped.

"Better question: how did all of those fit into your pocket? The parts are too large for that kind of satchel," Yori pointed at the gun parts on the table, then Charlie's chest pocket.

Charlie grabbed the grip and a few small parts, combining and crafting them together bit by bit. It was like watching a clockmaker assemble a pocket watch: pieces interwoven and combined in complex ways that formed an intricate machine. A machine of death and destruction. Charlie didn't answer Yori's question until all the pieces came together, ending with a long, black silencer fitted at the end of the barrel. They pulled the hammer back, watching all the parts slide and click satisfyingly before placing it down on the table. "I had some help," Charlie said.

"From who?" Yori asked.

"I thought you kept track of everyone's affinities. That sounds like something you would do," Charlie said as they glanced down the sights. 

Yori huffed. "What about you, Calina? Have any affinities you'd like to mention before we settle on a plan?"

"I, uh, I can camouflage myself. Not like, into the background or anything. I'm just really good at hiding," Calina explained.

"That's not very helpful..." Yori trailed off.

"Let's discuss this later," Elric planted his palms on the table. "So now we have two close-range weapons. As much as I disapprove of firearms..."

Yori pouted.

"...I think they can be valuable for intimidation or potentially incapacitating would-be murderers. I hope we can subdue the thieves without anyone dying. Is that clear, Charlie?"

Reblan's words echoed in Charlie's ears. _"Promise me you won't go after the Guild. They don't harm anyone, they're just trying to get by however they can! Please, Charlie. Please."_

"Let's hope they don't try to kill us first." Charlie holstered their silenced handgun. 

Elric let out a gentle sigh of relief. He half expected Charlie to ignore him entirely. It wasn't like he knew Charlie that well, but he felt deep down they had a soft spot. Somewhere beneath their mask of indifference and noncommitment, Charlie had morals. 

The ring Charlie gave him was proof of that.

Yori broke the silence. "Alright, let's discuss strategy. I think we should split up. Elric, you and Charlie will return to the caboose and fetch your staff. Calina and I will investigate the front half of the train. We'll all search for the thief Calina described since he's our only lead. Who knows? Maybe he's just bluffing." 

In the distance, Yori could hear a muffled boom. She got to her feet and turned behind her. "Did anyone else hear that?" her ears perked.

Elric got up as well, pushing his chair in. "Yes, I did. It sounded like a small explosion," he said, concerned.

"It came from the front of the train," Charlie said.

Yori grabbed her rifle from behind her seat and held onto it tightly. "We need to move, now! Calina, with me." 

Calina hopped to her feet, swords holstered crisscrossed behind her back. "Aye aye, captain," she saluted.

"We're really splitting up, Yori?" Elric asked.

"We can't know how many of them there are, but at least this way we can guarantee we find someone. Let's hope there aren't any more explosives. If there are, we can't defuse them. That's why we have to split up." Yori explained.

"Elric, let's go." Charlie had already gotten up and walked towards the back side of the dining car. 

Elric sighed again and followed Charlie, opening the doors to the back of the train. 

-

Charlie took point, unholstering their pistol. They slipped a loaded magazine from one of their jacket pockets and slotted it into the underside of the handgun, cocking the hammer as they did. 

Concerned passengers watched an armed soldier walk past them, scanning the crowd. They could barely hear what happened at the front of the train, but many of them started to pick up on what was going on. A muffled explosion, Sabinese soldiers... It sounded like the work of the notorious Thieves' Guild. Some huddled up next to each other, wanting nothing to do with whatever was going on.

Charlie's eyes scanned the passengers. Many were Creaden, but a few were Simenti. This made narrowing down the possible suspects easier. Wavy blue hair, light blue skin, and an average build. So far, nobody seemed to fit the bill. Charlie continued to walk forward, each footstep echoing in the deathly silent car. 

"They're scared half to death," Elric whispered to Charlie.

Charlie opened the door to the next car. "They'll be fine. Let's keep going."

The next car was equally silent. The people were less huddled together, but they were definitely on edge. Even if the distant explosion was faint, word traveled quickly among the passengers that something was wrong. 

It broke Elric's heart to see so many scared civilians. He knew slowing down to speak to them could put them in more danger, but it still hurt. 

"No one fits the bill here." Charlie sounded frustrated. 

Charlie kicked the door to the final passenger car. A sea of eyes darted towards Elric and Charlie, wondering what the hell was going on. 

"See anyone that fits the description?" Charlie asked.

Elric scanned the room once more. To his dismay, there wasn't a single Simenti in this car. "No."

"Then we have a straight shot to the caboose. Get in there and grab your staff. I'll stay here and keep an eye out," Charlie demanded. 

"Will do." Elric shuffled past Charlie and walked straight towards the door. His eyes stared straight ahead; his heart couldn't bear looking at the scared people all around him. His hand reached out towards the door handle and twisted it slowly, making his way into the caboose. 

The staff lay on the cushion. It had gone undisturbed the entire time, much to Elric's relief. However, there was just one small problem. 

The caboose was full of bowls of water. 

-

Calina offered to lead Yori to the front of the train. Her butterfly swords gave her enough confidence to strike down anyone who got in her way. They were always a source of comfort for Calina, much like Yori's rifle was a source of comfort for her. People might be unreliable, but steel will never betray you.

The first two cars were largely uneventful. They had been trying to locate the source of the explosion to no avail. Yori estimated it came from either the first or second passenger car. This meant the first few cars might be a little uneventful--and they were. Nobody fit the description yet. 

"Calina," Yori said, "Emada mentioned how you were in a guild with him. Does that mean the thief chasing you right now is from the same guild?"

Calina didn't want to turn around. Not because she was busy looking for her pursuer, but because she was embarrassed. "I dunno why they're still after me. These swords aren't worth shit."

"They still think those gems are real?" 

"Probably. Wish I could tell 'em to fuck off." Calina spat on the floor.

"Why don't you just give the swords back? They'd leave you alone then, wouldn't they?"

"I don't got any other weapons, girl. How am I supposed to live by myself with just my fists?"

"You live by yourself? Where?"

"Well, I lived in the woods. Kinda had a nice tent situation going on, but that went to shit real quick thanks to Emada. I used to live with the Guild but we didn't exactly work out."

"So you really _were_ a thief then..." Yori trailed off.

The two of them approached the door to the next car. Calina kicked it open and stormed inside, ready to beat up anyone inside. Unfortunately for her, nobody stepped up to the challenge. Like the last two cars, this one was entirely ordinary. No collateral damage, no injured people, nothing. All that remained in the car was more concerned passengers. Some had gotten out of their seats to poke their heads out of the window. They couldn't see anything, but they knew something was wrong. But what could they do? There was no way out of a train.

"I had to get by somehow," Calina said as she stepped into the next car. "Do what you gotta to survive."

"Why did you leave, then?" Yori followed Calina inside.

"I'll tell ya more when we're not being hunted down, 'kay?" Calina waved her hand. "Let's find these bastards and make 'em pay." Calina patroled ahead, looking carefully at each and every passenger. Some gave her dirty looks, thinking she was responsible. She was hardly dressed like a normal passenger with her haphazard clothing. Who wears a green jacket, rose printed jeans and red shoes? No one with a proper wardrobe. 

"Anyone you recognize?" Yori asked.

"Nah. I'd be screamin' and jumpin' at 'em if I saw anyone I recognized." 

"I'd better hold you back, just in case," Yori giggled.

"What, you wanna feel up my muscles? I don't blame you." Calina tilted her head back and flexed for Yori. 

It took a shocking amount of willpower for Yori to resist squeezing Calina's biceps. 

"Anyway," Calina rested her arms, "let's get to the next car. This is, what, the fourth?" Like before, Calina kicked open the car door, stomping inside. This time, however, she was greeted by a different sight.

A hole in the ceiling. 

"Holy crap," Calina pointed. "What the _fuck_?! That's a big-ass hole!"

Yori followed Calina inside, sharing her surprise. "That must've been the explosion we heard before."

The two of them examined the blown-out void in the ceiling. Despite Calina's outburst, Yori estimated it was barely more than a meter in diameter. What baffled her most was why someone would blow a hole in the ceiling of all places. Why not the floor, or a wall?

"Maybe they hate ceilings?" Calina suggested.

Yori had no response to that. "Do you think someone snuck in through here? Maybe we should ask around, see if anyone here saw something," Yori suggested.

To her dismay, there weren't very many passengers left in this car. Most of them must have moved to other cars fearing for their safety. The ones who did remain, however, were largely unhelpful. Nobody claimed to have seen anyone coming or going through the hole in the ceiling. All they saw was the explosion and nothing else.

"Think, Yori, think..." she muttered to herself. "Why would a group of thieves set off a small explosive? It wasn't meant to injure or kill anyone, so they can't be reckless. This was calculated..."

"Who ya talking to?" Calina leaned in close to Yori. 

Yori stepped back, surprised that Calina was within licking distance of her face. "I'm thinking, give me a minute..." Yori turned around. "No one here saw anyone going through the hole in the ceiling. Furthermore, someone would've noticed a Simenti planting an explosive. So that means..."

Calina stared at Yori's back, watching her pace back and forth, biting her thumb. "Uhhh..." Calina tapped Yori's back.

Yori didn't notice. "It means the thief... is on top of the train...?"

"Hey, Yori?" Calina tapped Yori in the back harder. "Do, uh, do you hear me?" 

Yori darted towards the hole in the ceiling, hopping on top of a seat and lifting herself just enough through the hole. She could see the entire top of the train. To her dismay, she saw nothing of interest. All she could see was steam, smoke, and lots of metal. That, and the gorgeous scenery, but there was no time for that. 

Meanwhile, Calina glanced around the car. She was getting bored and was looking for something to fidget with. On the side opposite to where the hole was, there were two seats, each holding a bowl of water. "Uh oh," she said. 

Yori hopped down from the seat with a disappointed huff. "This is going nowhere, Calina. What are we supposed to do now?"

Calina grinned widely, ready to make Yori's day. "I found some--" 

"I mean, we can't find a single valuable clue! All we found was this hole in the ceiling, and that just raises more questions than it answers!" Yori ranted.

"Yori," Calina said.

"This is really bad, Calina!" Yori grabbed her by the shoulders. "What if we can't find anything? What if they're too smart? What if they're better than us, Calina?!" Yori started shaking Calina. 

"Girl, lemme go before I smack the anxiety outta you!" Calina pulled herself away from Yori's death grip. "Look right here," she said, pointing at the bowls of water.

Yori's eyes widened as she stared at the seats in front of her. "Oh."

Calina picked up one of the bowls, noticing a few strands of noodles floating inside of it. "Look, you think that asshole's got more to say to us? Huh?! You think you're so smart, watching us from afar like a smug jackass?!" Calina started shaking the bowl in rage, spilling water as she did.

"Calina!" Yori grabbed the bowl out of her hands. "Let's see if something happens before you smash this bowl, okay?" 

Before Calina could complain or pout, the noodles began to stir inside their bowl. Like before, it formed a crude scrawl. It looked like an arrow pointing towards the back of the train. 

"Back? Like, to the caboose or somethin'?" Calina's hands rested on her hips.

"Is this advice or an ambush?" Yori wondered.

"Well, your friends are around there, so we oughta be safe, right?" Calina shrugged.

"Let's go." Yori carefully placed the bowl back on the seat and turned back towards the caboose.

-

"Elric, is something wrong?" Charlie poked their head into the caboose. They stepped inside and found the symphony of bowls placed all around. "Interesting."

"Interesting?" Elric turned back to face Charlie. "They're watching us. What's interesting about that?"

"It means someone was in here after we left, but before we got here. Considering they had no way of knowing if we were on Calina's side, I'm guessing this was done recently." 

Elric scratched his chin. "Are you insinuating the thief is nearby?"

"I think that makes sense, don't you?"

"I don't disagree."

Charlie walked past Elric and picked up a bowl from the floor. Much like the bowls in the dining car, this one had strands of onion in it as well. "Someone must have been a fan of the soup," Charlie commented.

Elric grabbed his staff from the corner and strapped it to his back. "Right. Now it's a fair fight."

"Don't get hasty, Elric." Charlie stared closely at the soup.

The small chunks of onion swam around in the bowl once more, forming yet another warning for Charlie and Elric. The letters S, T, A, and Y formed on the surface. 

"Stay...? In the caboose?" Elric thought aloud.

"It's clearly a trap. They want us to stay here to ambush us. We need to get out of here." Charlie set the bowl aside. "Let's go."

Elric nodded. "Alright. Back to the dining car?"

Before Charlie could respond, they heard another distant explosion. It sounded... close. Too close. Not long after the explosion, screams ensued. 

"Oh, my gods." Elric cupped his hand to his mouth. 

-

Calina and Yori stormed through the rest of the train, jogging through each car one by one. They passed through the dining car without seeing Elric or Charlie, much to their surprise. Yori grew worried--did something happen to them? They had fewer cars to inspect, yet they hadn't returned. 

Calina kicked down the door to the final car before the caboose. After walking inside, Calina looked to her left and noticed something on the window. It was a rubbery, sticky object, no larger than a coin. In fact, it looked a lot like someone wrapped a coin in some kind of putty. "The hell's that?" Calina asked.

Yori approached the window. Nobody sat in the seats near the window, so she had free reign to lean on them as she looked closely. Once she realized what she was looking at, Yori stumbled backward as fast as she could. "Calina, get back, now!" 

Calina pressed her back up against the door. "Why? What's that?"

"That's a plastic explosive. It's military grade."

" _What_!?" Calina shouted. "What do we do?!"

"Cover your ears!" Yori shouted.

All the passengers in the car covered their ears and ducked down as fast as they could. Right before Yori could plug her ears, the explosive detonated, blowing a meter long hole in the wall. Glass shattered and fell both inside and out of the train as a loud gale of wind began storming through the car. Once the blast settled down, everyone stood back up and uncovered their ears. 

"What the hell..." Calina panted, "was that? Were they trying to kill us?"

Yori's ears were still ringing. After a minute, she could hear again, even though her ears were still popping. "Everyone alright?" Yori glanced all around at the passengers, finding nobody was seriously injured by the explosion. 

"Let's head to the caboose, then." Yori turned to Calina. 

"Alright..." Calina said. She was still slightly shaken but put on a brave face. Walking past Yori, Calina headed towards the door to the caboose. She opened the first door, walked across the connecting bridge, then reached for the handle to the caboose.

The handle wouldn't budge.

Calina shook the handle harder.

It still would not budge.

"For _fuck's sake_ " Calina kicked at the door.

"Calina?" A voice called out from inside the caboose. "Calina? Is that you?"

Yori darted past Calina and tried to budge the handle as well. Unfortunately for her, it was just as stuck as when Calina tried. "Elric!" 

"Yori!" Elric shouted. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. That explosion didn't hit us," Yori sighed in relief.

"Oh, come on! You aren't gonna ask me if _I'm_ okay?" Calina huffed.

"Can you get that handle open, Yori?" Elric asked, ignoring Calina.

"No, it's stuck. Is it stuck on your side too?" Yori asked.

"Yes. We heard the explosion and tried to head back, but we couldn't get through."

"What do we do now...?" Yori wondered. She pressed her head up against the caboose door. 

Charlie examined the caboose in greater detail. The only other door was the one at the very end of the train. Charlie walked towards the door, expecting it to be locked. However, much to their surprise, it was unlocked. It wouldn't do much good as an escape route, however, since all that waited outside the door was a small, metal platform. Sure, it could hold both Elric and Charlie, but there was no way out of the caboose. Jumping off would be suicide. At best, they could get some fresh air before the thieves descended upon them. 

Elric could hear what sounded like footsteps. It sounded like it was coming from... outside? He turned towards one of the windows and looked through it. Just as he went to open the window, the one behind him shattered into pieces. Before he could turn around, boots collided with the back of his head, smashing it against the window in front of him. He collapsed almost immediately, his limp body falling on top of the seat cushion. Elric was knocked out cold. 

Behind Elric stood an average height man with blue skin and blue hair--a Simenti man. The man looked to be at least twice Elric's age--somewhere in his mid to late 40's perhaps? The expression on the man's face was tired but confident. This was definitely not his first encounter, nor would it likely be his last. He yanked Elric's staff off his body and examined it closely, wondering if it was worth anything. After shrugging, he decided to smash it into two halves over his knee, throwing the pieces out of the train. "Useless junk."

Charlie stormed inside the caboose, gun drawn and pointed at the thief. "You look like you're from the Guild, aren't you?"

The thief turned to face Charlie. "Name's Espio. You look like a trained dog."

Charlie glanced at Elric's unconscious body. "Is that what Reblan would want? Attacking people like this? Setting off explosives?" 

Espio glared at Charlie. "Reblan? He's dead. You've got some nerve trying to leverage a dead man against me."

"Funny you should say that. People are a lot harder to kill than you'd expect," Charlie's gun was still pointed right at Espio's chest. "What do you want? We could work something out, Espio."

"I want you to jump off and let me get what I came for. Think you could do that for me?" Espio grinned. 

"That's not very nice," Charlie said.

"Neither is harboring a traitor. Just die already so I can deal with Calina, alright?" Espio grew more agitated by the second.

"I could shoot you right now, Espio. Tell me why I shouldn't."

"Because if I die, everyone on this entire train dies with me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elric just can't catch a break, can he?


	18. The Path to Isolation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, water is spilled.

"What the hell was that?!" Calina shouted, banging on the door. She heard the sound of breaking glass, followed by a dull thud. Then, silence. 

Yori stepped back from the door. "We have to find another way in."

"How the hell are we gonna get in there?" Calina asked, kicking away at the door uselessly. 

Yori turned around to face the rest of the car. There weren't any sort of tools that would help dislodge a door or a stuck handle, so those ideas wouldn't work. It was becoming increasingly obvious by the second that the door was well and truly stuck, and nothing short of a miracle would grant entry. 

Looking all around, Yori saw nothing that could act as a sort of battering ram. Nothing immediately obvious, at least. "Think, Yori, think..." she muttered. This was hardly a situation Yori encountered often. "Ugh, you useless girl. All you're good with is shooting sniper rifles. What good that'll do now..." 

Meanwhile, Calina stood at the door, staring intently. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn't want to open that door at all. After all, there was an angry thief (or thieves, for all she knew) on the other side. People who wanted to take her only pride and joy from her, come hell or high water. Why _should_ she do something?

Yori glanced around the car until her eyes met Calina's. Her gaze fixated on the sword handles stick out from Calina's back. Suddenly, inspiration struck. "Hey, Calina," Yori walked towards her, "think you can cut through the door with those swords?"

"Uhh, I could, but I don't really wanna." Calina scratched the back of her head.

"What...? Why not? Elric and Charlie need our help!" Yori pointed at the door.

"I mean, uh, I don't wanna dull my blades any. Plus, like, what if they're standing on the other side of the door? I could hurt 'em, right?" Calina shrugged, hoping that would satisfy Yori.

Yori buried her face in her palm. "Alright, fine. Could you cut the handle off, maybe? That sword is sharp enough for that, right?"

Calina shrugged again. "I dunno..."

Yori leaned in closer to Calina, almost uncomfortably so. "Calina, I need your help. Elric's my best friend, and if he's in danger, I want to help him. Charlie too, of course, but I need you to help me out here. Please."

At first, Calina didn't know what to say. Best friend? Him? Really? She realized she probably shouldn't say that out loud--at least not now--but she didn't know what else to say. Lost in thought, Calina's gaze found itself fixated on the blown-out hole in the wall. Why was she staring at it? She wasn't sure, but something about it was calling to her like a siren's song. Something about the rush of wind, the sound of the train chugging along... 

"Calina!"

Calina snapped out of her mini-trance. "Alright, fine. I think I got a crazy idea."

"Crazy idea...?" Yori was perplexed yet concerned. 

"See that big-ass hole in the wall? Maybe I could, like, climb along the side of the train and hop through one of the caboose windows!" Calina pointed, smirking a little as she did.

"That's... a really stupid, dangerous, terrible, awful, unsafe, and most of all, bad idea. What if you fall?" Yori realized she was starting to sound like her parents.

"Hey, don't sweat it! I've climbed across tree branches less stable than this shit. I wouldn't bring it up if I thought I couldn't do it. I'm not _that_ dumb." Calina flexed a little just to ease Yori's concerns.

"Promise me you'll be safe. I can't help you if you fall. Gods, I am so useless." Yori stomped the ground in frustration.

"Hey, hey, hey. Beat yourself up when we're done with this, alright? Gods." Calina reassured Yori.

"...Alright. Good luck, Calina." Yori sniffed.

Calina nodded and ran towards the hole in the wall. She poked her head out and saw a little platform leading right to the caboose. Slowly but surely, Calina lifted herself out of the train car and onto the ledge. It was far more precarious than she expected it to feel. It couldn't have been more than a few inches in length. Calina hugged the side of the train, grasping for dear life as the world raced beneath her. Deep down, Calina knew she shouldn't look down.

But she did.

And when she did, she didn't feel crippling fear. Instead, she felt a burst of energy. She felt the adrenaline, she felt the power. She felt... alive. Fueled by her instincts, Calina slid her feet along the platform bit by bit until she reached the end of the car. There was a gap between the caboose's platform and the one she was on currently. She had to make a small leap of faith if she wanted to make it across. 

Calina took a deep breath, clutching the windowsill of the train car. She stuck her left foot in the gap until she could feel the familiar metal platform beneath her toes. The easy part was over. Now it was time for Calina to place her other foot on the caboose side.

The wind roared past Calina, blowing her hair wildly. The sheer force hurt her face, making her squint. She could feel the adrenaline starting to wear off. She had to act fast. 

-

Charlie's aim never faltered. They kept a tight grip on the handle of their gun and kept it trained right on Espio's chest. If he so much as breathed funny, they could end his life right then and there. But Espio's threat was too much. They had no way to know if he was bluffing or not--maybe he was. In fact, he most likely was.

"Lower your gun, soldier." Espio scoffed like he was being held up by a child with a toy gun. "Is that what you're used to hearing? Orders from your superiors? I thought I'd make you feel a little more comfortable."

Charlie didn't lower their gun. "And you are?"

"Some son of a bitch with a detonator and an entire train full of civvies," Espio examined his nails casually. "Ask me a better question. I don't like that one."

Charlie had to change the subject. The last thing they needed was to piss off Espio. "How did you lock the door anyway? That was awfully clever."

Espio reached into his pocket slowly and pulled out a few clear vials, dancing it in between his fingers. "Someone's been snoozing during science class, eh? Alrighty, gray, I'll fill you in. It's a really complicated process so I won't bore you with all the fancy shmancy science that'll just go over your head. Take some salt, water, and a little bit of ice, mix it all together, and give it a smack and bam!" Espio clapped his hands together, crushing the vial in between them. When he parted his hands, ice formed on his palms. "Superchilled water--aka ice, gray."

"You're right. I never would've thought of that," Charlie admitted. "Speaking of being clever, you're the only thief on board, aren't you?"

Espio cleared the ice from his hands, taking a short bow after he was done. "Well done!" he said as he stood up straight again. "I could see there were three of you, not including Calina. I had to find some way to intimidate all of you. I was kinda hoping you'd all split up once I set off that explosive in the front of the train. Lo and behold, you did! All I wanted was to isolate some of you in the caboose and take you out one by one. Look how well that's turned out! This guy didn't even stand a chance." Espio tapped his foot on Elric's limp body.

"Tell me, Espio, how did you sneak explosives past us? You wouldn't be able to reach the front of the train and make it back to the caboose without passing by one of us," Charlie asked.

"Well, I'll be!" Espio clapped his hands on his cheeks. "Gray's got some brains after all! I might've crawled along the top of the train like a total badass. Not that you would know, obviously." Espio took tiny steps away from Elric's unconscious body. Unbeknownst to Charlie, he was making his way towards a bowl of water that lay on the ground between them. "Aw, I shouldn't be so harsh. You're not stupid, you're just ignorant! I can tell if you had just a little bit more foresight, you'd be a great tactician. The Guild could use someone like you, Charlie."

"Do you not have enough direction as it is? I hear Lacrimosa is a fantastic leader."

Espio's eyes widened. "You know him or something? "

"I don't," Charlie admitted, "but I hope to meet him someday."

"Oh, great! We can work together, you'll be my understudy. You oughta get a new nickname, though. Gray's kinda... dull." Espio nodded and crossed his arms. 

Charlie tightened their grip on the gun's handle "I would love to meet the leader of the infamous Thieves Guild. Did you know he's wanted for, well, theft, larceny, not to mention all of the murders on behalf of the Guild. Plus, you threatened to blow up a civilian transport. You guys don't exactly have clean hands, do you?"

"Lacri's very strict. He never wanted the Guild to get a murderous reputation. However, Lacri made it very clear that we _need_ those swords from Calina. He said 'by any means necessary,' which isn't exactly something he says lightly. He knows we may have to kill for them," Espio said.

"You'd kill everyone on board for those swords?" Charlie tightened their grip on the gun. 

"You don't know what you're getting involved with. This goes far beyond you or me; this goes beyond all of us. We're all drops in the bucket in the grand scheme of things--and that's saying something! I mean, this is _me_ we're talking about here! Me!" Espio placed his hands on his chest.

Charlie tightened their grip on the gun and kept it trained right at Espio's chest. "You're a monster. Reblan said the Guild was his family, but you can't possibly be part of that." Charlie scolded.

In one swift motion, Espio kicked the bowl of water on the floor at Charlie. Before Charlie could react, the water covered their gun, drenching it entirely. Charlie squeezed the trigger, but nothing came out. The bullet was stuck in the chamber.

"Dammit!" Charlie shouted.

Espio dived forward, tackling Charlie to the ground. The gun launched out of Charlie's hands and onto the floor, scraping against the metal as it slid away. Charlie fell onto their back with Espio on top, grabbing him by the wrists. They could see Espio's killing intent poisoning his eyes. It was a look that was all too familiar. 

Espio kneed Charlie in the stomach multiple times, loosening their grip on his wrists. Once they were free, he jabbed Charlie in the chin repeatedly. 

Each hit felt worse than the last as Espio pounded at Charlie's jaw. Charlie felt like he was just toying with them at this point. Charlie kneed Espio in the crotch and kicked him away, launching him back. They quickly scrambled to their feet and ran towards their gun in an act of desperation. Charlie ran as fast as they could towards the back of the caboose, hoping that the gun had finally thawed out. With a sigh of relief, they bent down and picked the gun up, only to find Espio charging at them. He was too fast for Charlie to react.

Espio tackled Charlie against the wall, pinning their back to it. He managed to grab both of Charlie's wrists and hold them against the wall with one hand, leaving his other free. Wasting no time, he wrapped his free hand around Charlie's neck, strangling them. "Time to sleep, gray," he whispered.

Charlie tried to kick Espio off, but he stomped on their feet and kicked them in the shins. The gun in their hand fell to the floor with a loud clank. Charlie's vision was getting hazy fast. Shapes began to lose clarity, outlines began to blur, and detail began to fade. They couldn't even talk back to Espio, at least not easily. Grunts and wheezes crawled out of Charlie's throat. 

Espio's eyes widened as he watched Charlie's eyes glaze over in defeat. He never enjoyed fighting, but the thrill of winning more than made up for it. 

-

Calina took a deep breath, barely able to hear herself think as the wind roared past her. She wanted to close her eyes so much but knew she couldn't. It was time for a leap of faith.

Calina hopped across the gap but stumbled at the last second. She lost her footing and her foot slipped off the ledge. Her only hope of survival was a small railing that ran along the side of the caboose, which she grabbed onto for dear life. With one foot dangling over certain doom, Calina hoisted herself back onto the side ledge. Now with stable footing, Calina was now hugging the side of the caboose.

She slid down the length of the car until she could poke her head in through the window. She saw a broken window on the other side and... Elric? He was unconscious on the floor from what she could tell. 

What the hell happened here?

Calina reached for the window, trying to lift it. It was tough, but she managed to squeeze it open just enough to slide her fingers underneath the frame and pull upward. It turned out windows weren't meant to be opened from the outside. The window squeaked and groaned, but all of its sounds were muffled by the sounds of struggling.

"What the hell..." Calina whispered to herself, her voice lost in the wind. Did she really want to get involved in whatever was going on? Whoever was fighting was on the other side of the caboose--somewhere she couldn't see without poking her head inside. If she did that, she'd have to get involved. 

Calina paused. She justified her hesitation as tactical surveillance, thinking that it would be better if she could observe the caboose without being seen so she could strike unexpectedly. In reality, she was just scared. And so, Calina waited. 

-

Charlie knew they couldn't last long like this. They needed a plan, fast. "Ca... lina...?" Charlie tilted their head as best they could past Espio. 

"Calina...?" Espio glanced behind himself furiously. Nobody stood behind him. 

Charlie capitalized on his distraction with a knee to his stomach, managing to squeeze their legs free of his grasp. Charlie followed up with a headbutt, knocking Espio off of them entirely. 

Espio stumbled back, giving Charlie a meter of breathing room. "Good one," Espio brushed his shoulder. 

Charlie closed the distance quickly, grabbing both of Espio's wrists and pulling him forward. Espio's body jerked harshly as he lost his balance. With the force of an angry bear, Charlie thrust Espio against the wall, the back of his head colliding with bare metal. The sound of throbbing metal reverberated around the caboose, but it was drowned out by the train's ambient click-clacking and chugging. 

On the floor lay Charlie's handcuffs. All Charlie needed to do was wrap them around Espio's wrists and the battle would be won. Unfortunately, the cuffs were just out of reach. Charlie decided to take the risk, clocking Espio in the face with a swift punch to dizzy him. 

Espio was not deterred. He grabbed Charlie by the wrist as they tried to race towards the cuffs. "I've had enough of you," he said, yanking Charlie closer. He crouched down and grabbed Charlie by their hips, lifting them over his body. He threw Charlie towards the other end of the caboose like he would throw a pillow. 

Charlie's body soared through the air until their head collided with the door. A nice bruise formed from the impact, leaving a giant patch of purple-tinted fur on the back of their head. Charlie's vision was blurred and everything began to spin and swirl, not unlike Espio's water manipulation tricks from earlier. 

Espio paraded towards Charlie, spinning the handcuffs with his finger like a toy. "You really need to work on your hand-to-hand. That was pretty shameful." Espio reached down and wrapped one strand around Charlie's left wrist. He reached down to grab Charlie's right wrist. 

Before he could, Espio realized something was off. Was he being... watched? Usually _he_ was the one doing the spying, not the other way around. In his paranoia, Espio turned towards the window behind him. 

To his surprise, Calina was staring right at him, watching him. "You," he said with utter contempt. 

Calina glanced around herself. "Me?" she pointed at herself innocently.

"Why don't you come inside, little lady? I was just about to cuff your friend here." Espio waved Charlie's cuffed hand around like a trophy.

Calina grabbed the window ledge and climbed inside the caboose. She stood confidently in front of Espio, despite him having almost a full foot in height over her.

"I'm surprised you came by yourself, Calina. Usually, you just run away." Espio spat on Calina's face.

"Not this time," she said, wiping the spit from her cheek. 

Espio chuckled. "I'll ask nicely one more time: give me those swords." He held out his hand expectantly. 

"No." In the corner of her eye, Calina could see Charlie was stirring. Next to them lay Elric, still out cold. This gave Calina an idea. "Actually, you know what? Sure. Take 'em. I sure as hell don't need them anymore."

Espio looked confused at first, but he settled for her answer. "Thank you, Calina. You're making the right choice here. Now hand 'em over." Espio's hand was still outstretched.

Behind him, Charlie began rising to their feet silently. 

"Alright, hold your horses. Just gimme a sec..." Calina's hands reached for her back slowly. Her movements were dramatic yet sluggish, wanting to draw out Espio's patience. 

"I don't have all day," Espio said, agitated.

Before Calina could retort, Charlie struck. They wrapped their cuffs around Espio's neck, tugging on each strand and yanking back. The chain wrapped around his throat and constricted, choking him. Charlie climbed onto Espio's back and rode him down to the ground, pinning him on his stomach. 

Espio kicked and flailed, trying and failing desperately to gain the upper hand. His vision faded quickly until his body went limp, his flails slowly becoming weak shakes. Espio was unconscious.

Charlie climbed to their feet, pulling the cuffs away from his neck. One strand still coiled around their wrist, but that was the least of their concerns at the moment. "Thank you," Charlie panted, turning to face Calina. 

"Hey, no problem. You did all the heavy liftin', I just kinda... showed up," Calina admitted.

Charlie walked towards the front of the caboose and knelt down next to Elric. They spun him around until he lay on his back, facing upward. They placed two fingers to his nostrils to see if he was still breathing. He was, thankfully. "He's been unconscious for some time now. He should be coming to shortly." Charlie stood up and let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good, right?" Calina asked.

"Assuming he doesn't have any brain damage, yes. Let's worry about that later. Can you try opening the door now? The ice should have melted," Charlie said.

"Ice...? Eh, whatever." Calina walked towards the caboose door and bashed against it, yanking on the handle. After a little convincing, the door swung open. 

On the other side stood Yori, arms folded and sick with worry. The sound of the door crashing open nearly made her jump out of her fur until she saw it was Calina. "Calina!" Yori breathed a sigh of relief. She ran towards Calina and hugged her tight. "Where's Elric?"

Calina pointed at the floor behind her with her thumb. "He's hurt, but he'll be ok. Just a little knocked out."

Yori darted past Calina and crouched down next to Elric. She rested her hand on his chest, feeling it rise and fall with each breath.

Almost as if on cue, Elric's eyes began to flutter open. He hacked and sputtered as he regained consciousness. He felt as though he fell asleep face down in a pool; his throat was filled with mucus and saliva, making it difficult to breathe. His vision slowly began to refocus and he could see Yori leaning over him. "Yori...?"

"Elric!" Yori's eyes began to tear up. "I'm so glad you're okay... I saw you laying here and... and I thought..."

Elric tried to lean up, but the splitting pain in his head made it incredibly difficult to do so. It felt like horses trampled him in his sleep. "I am still here--ow--I'm quite alright, Yori. I apologize for making you worry."

Meanwhile, Charlie circled back towards the other end of the caboose. Their gun had (mostly) unthawed at this point. Not wanting to leave a loaded weapon lying around, Charlie picked it up and holstered it. Espio lay not too far from where the gun fell. Thankfully, he was still out cold. Charlie knew he wouldn't be for long, though. "Yori, Calina, can you two help me restrain Espio?"

Calina nodded. "Why not use those cuffs? That's a pretty good way to hold someone down."

Yori reached into her pocket and pulled out the handcuff keys. "Calina, can you help Charlie with that? I'm gonna stay with Elric." Yori said as she tossed the key to her.

Calina caught the key and nodded again. "Alrighty. Come here, you," she said as she knelt down behind Espio and grabbed both of his wrists. 

In the distance, Charlie heard a faint ticking sound, like a rhythmic beeping. A sound that could send shivers down anyone's spine. Was Espio lying about killing everyone on board? In the excitement, Charlie almost forgot his threat. There was no way he could lace the entire train with explosives in time. Besides, even if he did have time, he would need plenty of bombs to do so. 

Beep... Beep... Beep...

But what if he wasn't entirely lying?

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The ticking got faster and faster, the pause between beeps shortening by the second. Yori and Calina started to hear it as well, glancing all around to try and pinpoint the source. It sounded like it was coming from the front of the car.

Beep, beep, beep.

Charlie wasted no time. They left Calina and Espio behind as they ran towards the front of the caboose. Charlie swung the door open, unleashing a rush of wind that stung their face. 

And just as quickly as the ticking had started, it stopped. The brief silence led to an explosion that consumed the connecting bridge between the caboose and the next car over. A fireball blew into the caboose, nearly scorching Elric and Yori in the process. The roar of flames nearly deafened everyone onboard until it began to shrink away. Once the flame subsided, Yori could see that the train car in front of them began to race further and further away from them. 

The caboose lost its momentum slowly but surely. The explosion destroyed the coupling that linked the two cars together, and now nothing remained. The caboose was doomed to slow to a halt in the middle of nowhere. 

Metal shavings and fragments of what once made up a splendid train now scattered the floor in front of Yori and Elric. Small cinders danced around rained to the floor from a charred ceiling. It was amazing how much damage and destruction a small explosive could do. 

Yori had no idea how to process what just happened. One minute, everything was totally fine. The next minute, the world around her exploded with a fiery rage. She was awestruck. There were no words she could say that could describe how she felt. 

It took her a minute to realize Charlie was missing.

Elric staggered to his knees but no further. He was still dizzy, but he knew something was horribly wrong. And that wasn't even considering the explosion. "What happened, Yori?" Elric grunted. 

On the ground in front of her, Yori saw a familiar, gray hood. It was singed at the edges, blackened by fire. Some hairs were stuck to the inside as well, leaving no doubt in Yori's mind. "Oh, my gods..."

"What is it, Yori? I can't see too well right now." Elric's vision was still blurred. 

"I think... I think Charlie was caught in the blast." Yori picked up the hood and held it in front of herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A guaranteed catastrophe  
> A tear that's bound to fall  
> A sure train wreck  
> And you'll soon regret  
> The day I came to call


	19. Lost and Forlorn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Calina makes a promise.

After an agonizingly loud screech from the wheels, the caboose had come to a complete stop. Now the train car sat in the middle of what could only be described as "nowhere". No people, no towns, nothing. Trees stretched across the land from one horizon to the other, painting the landscape in brown and green. Accompanying the barrage of trees was Mt. Creata. Even though it was actually two mountains, it was referred to in a singular context due to its origin in the Creata religion, a belief practiced by many of the Simenti and Creaden or Catol and Sabine respectively. The mountain was the only other landmark visible for miles. It towered over the rest of the surrounding landscape with snowy white peaks and gray rock bases. 

Birds chirped, filling the midsummer's day air with their dulcet tones. However, the explosion drowned out nature's orchestra with a stinging tinnitus. It faded in time, but Yori wondered if she should've invested in ear plugs long ago. Maybe it would've helped her tinnitus? That was the least of her concerns now. 

Yori looked all around her once more. Elric still lay on his back in front of her while Calina stood at the other end of the caboose. She was pointing both of her swords right at Espio's unconscious body, ready to strike if he so much as breathed unusually. There was only one person missing--Charlie. 

In Yori's hands was Charlie's gray hood, burnt at the edges and barely recognizable. All Yori could remember was Charlie making a mad dash for the next train car when the bomb went off. Were they caught in the explosion? Yori had no way to tell. Having just Charlie's hood was a bad sign, but it's better than a severed limb. Yori didn't think she could handle that kind of gore. 

Elric grabbed his head with one hand while his other propped himself up from the floor. Staggering slowly to his knees, Elric finally stood back up, albeit a little dizzy. He was embarrassed it took him so long to regain consciousness, even more so when he couldn't remember _why_ he lost consciousness at all. Yori didn't know why either, but she was just glad he was awake.

"Finally came to, eh?" Calina smirked from across the caboose.

Elric rubbed his head. "What happened, exactly...? I was staring at the window, then I was out like a candle. Nghh..." His head felt like it a concert of timpanis droning on.

"Beats me, dude. But hey, you're not dead, so that's good," Calina said.

Yori was quiet. She didn't know what to say at all. Well, she knew what she _could_ say, but now wasn't the time for negativity. As much as she'd love to berate herself for being too passive, for not helping, now wasn't the time.

Espio's eyes fluttered open, grunting and groaning as he lifted his head. He saw a fuzzy outline that looked like Calina towering above him. "Well, this is unfortunate." 

"Yeah, for you, dipshit." Calina's blades drew ever nearer to Espio's head. "Hey, got any more of those handcuffs? I think your pal ran off with the other ones."

"Hey, hey, I'll behave. I swear." Espio stumbled to his knees as he stared down Calina's swords. "I'm not gonna try and do something stupid. Look, I don't even have any bowls around. Not to mention your swords or the fact your friend's got a rifle. I know when I'm beaten," Espio admitted.

By now, Elric walked up behind Espio, ready to catch him if he tried to run. "Leave. Now," Elric commanded.

Espio hung his head low in shame. "I just wanted those gems, Callie. I know... I know you were scared for your life when you took them, but..."

"Scared for her life...?" Yori muttered to herself.

"Those gems are something special," Espio continued. "Didn't Emada mention that?"

Calina sighed. "They're fakes. Fake as shit. Yori over there can, uh, confirm it." 

Yori could hear everything Espio and Calina were saying, but somehow she felt like it was too personal. Like it wasn't a conversation meant for her. But whenever somebody mentioned anything that sounds like it could even possibly be about the legendary gemstones, Yori's hopes got the best of her. "They're... yeah. They're fake, alright. I tried..."

"See?" Calina said, cocking her head. "You chased me, you set off bombs, and for what? _This_? You oughta be ashamed! I thought the Guild was about honor and family! Not cheap explosives and... and..."

"Please, that's enough." Espio outstretched his palm at Calina. "I believed in Lacrimosa. He would never steer us wrong. He's never been wrong before, so why would he be wrong now?"

"I don't know and I don't care." Calina's hands shook as her blades remained pointed at Espio. "Look, I won't kill you. I'm not about that. All I want's one little favor."

Espio stared Calina in the eyes, still on his knees. "You want me to tell Lacrimosa to leave you alone, don't you?"

"And my pals here, too," Calina said proudly. "Tell him if he sends anyone else after us, we'll cut 'em down!" Calina picked up her swords and sliced the air in front of her.

Yori stood up and walked towards Elric, resting her hands on his shoulders. "Who's Lacrimosa?" she whispered to him.

Elric didn't say anything. He was too focused on what Calina and Espio had to say.

"Why don't you come back, Calina? To the Guild? Lacrimosa won't punish you. He can't be mad forever, can he?" Espio tried to reason with Calina.

The offer was almost tempting. Calina recalled her days at the Guild and weighed their value against her solitary tent life. There were plenty of reasons for Calina to go back, but not enough to convince her. "No."

Espio stood up straight and huffed. "Alright. I'm sorry it had to be this way, Calina. I would say 'see you around', but..."

"Just go," Calina barked.

Calina stepped to the side of the caboose. In front of Espio was the back door out of the caboose, which was now unobstructed. Glancing behind him, Espio saw Elric's piercing glare and Yori's worried stare. He sighed and walked forward slowly until he reached the caboose door. As he swung it open, he hopped out of the now stationary caboose and ran off towards the woods. Grass crumpled underfoot as he fleed, leaving nothing behind but his pride.

Silence hung over the caboose like a raincloud. Calina sheathed her swords and sat down on a cushion, letting out a long sigh of relief. Elric wanted to do the same, but he had plenty more to say before allowing himself to relax. 

"You should leave, Calina. Your presence endangers... both of us. I was going to say all three of us, but as you can tell, Charlie isn't here. We would have been fine if you hadn't brought Espio with you."

Calina glared at Elric. She stood up and pointed a finger at his chest. "Hey, don't blame me for what Espio did! I didn't blow up half the train and try and kill people! If you wanna get pissy at someone, you should've gotten pissy when he was here!"

"I wouldn't _be_ this way if you hadn't allowed this to happen. You knew the dangers of luring a thief on board a civilian transport. And now we have to live with the consequences! But you get off scot-free, don't you?" Elric grabbed Calina's hand and shoved it away.

Calina got closer still until she was face to face with him. Face to chest, at least. "Man, fuck you! I thought I was gonna _die_ if I didn't get help!"

"Charlie is probably _dead_ and all you have to say is that you're glad you aren't? Have some respect!"

Yori had enough. She stepped in between both Elric and Yori, placing her hand on both of their chests and shoved them apart. "Alright, alright, let's... let's settle down. We're all very tense after what just happened. Yes, some bad things happened, but we need to focus on the positives."

Elric and Calina didn't stop glaring at each other. 

Yori continued. "Like, uh, we're alive? We got Espio to leave? Also, we, um, don't have to worry about the Guild harassing us anymore? So it should be okay if Calina hung around us for a while, right? Especially if you're missing your staff, Elric."

Elric ignored Yori. "Do you know what I don't understand, Calina? You stole those swords from the Guild to protect yourself, but you run away at the first sign of trouble?"

"I tried to fight Emada, you know! I really did! But that flame shield shit was too much for me! Then I saw Espio chasing me and... and I knew you'd be able to help! I was afraid he'd overpower me." Calina explained, her voice shaking. 

"And it's that very same selfishness that has gotten all of us stranded here. Not only that, but our mission has been compromised as a result! Do something selfless for once and _leave_." Elric pointed towards the caboose door, solemn and resolute. 

Once more, Yori found herself at a crossroads. She could be passive and let this continue, or she could put her foot down. Elric had a point, but she sympathized with Calina. What was the right answer, Yori thought? "Hey, Calina. Stay here."

"I beg your pardon?" Elric's hand pressed against his chest. "Why should she?"

Calina was stunned, her eyes widened in surprise. "Huh?" 

"Elric, you're absolutely right. Calina did lead that thief towards us and yes, that is a problem. But now we don't really have a choice, do we? Your staff's gone and Calina's the only one with a close-range weapon. The Guild should leave us alone, but it doesn't hurt to travel in numbers," Yori explained.

"Two is plenty," Elric scoffed.

Yori turned her back to Calina, facing Elric. "What if we get ambushed by two thieves? Then what?"

Elric huffed. "We've only ever been ambushed when Calina was present. Haven't you been paying attention, Yori?" 

For the first time in a while, Yori felt angry. "I have been, Elric. I feel a lot safer with her around than without her. After all, she was the only one conscious in the caboose when I arrived."

Elric grumbled. There wasn't anything he could say about that. 

Yori turned to face Calina, grabbing her hands and pressing them together with her own. "Think you can guide us to Catol? You used to be a thief, right? You should know what their tricks are."

"...Yeah." Calina hesitated to respond. 

"Calina..." Yori drifted off. "I know you were scared--I would've been terrified. I don't blame you for doing what you did, but it would mean the world if you helped bring us to Catol. We'll call it even if you do."

After a long pause, Calina finally made eye contact with Yori. She breathed a gentle sigh and nodded. "You got it," she said, smirking.

Elric leaned past Yori and saw Calina smile. "You're smiling already? You really have no shame, do you?"

Yori let go of Calina's hands and turned around to face Elric once more. "Elric, please try and keep your comments to yourself. I understand you're upset and frustrated but now isn't the time. We have to hurry if we want to reach Catol anytime soon." 

There was no arguing this, Elric thought. Even though every bone in his body screamed in resistance, he submitted to Yori's will. He knew he was in the right, though. For a second, he almost wanted something to go wrong just to prove to Yori that Calina was dangerous. Then he realized what he was thinking and felt... ashamed. "Fine."

"Good," Yori said. "Now shake on it, you two." Yori stepped backward and grabbed Elric's and Calina's wrists, pushing them together to force a handshake. "We're not going anywhere until you do."

Calina grumbled. "You're kidding."

"For once, I agree with Calina," Elric said.

Yori glared at Calina first, then Elric. "Shake. Hands."

Elric and Calina shared a quick glance with each other and swallowed. They begrudgingly shook hands just to please Yori's sudden-yet-scary demands. After all, she _was_ the only one with a gun. Once they were done, their hands retreated back to their sides. Yori was content. 

"Now then, let's take our stuff and head to Catol. Calina, please lead the way," Yori said, taking command of the situation. 

Elric stepped to the other end of the caboose and picked up the duffel bag Charlie had left behind. It wasn't like Charlie would be needing it anymore, he thought. The reality was still setting in for him, the reality that Charlie was caught in the blast. The one person who dared speak to him about his parents, gone. At least he had his mother's ring. 

With the duffel bag slung over his shoulder, Elric reached for his nonexistent staff. He had grown so accustomed to carrying it that he felt almost naked without it. Maybe he could find a particularly sturdy branch in the woods and use that instead? No, of course not. That wouldn't work at all. Although...

Elric glanced at the window he stared at earlier. The curtains had been drawn aside allowing light into the cabin. Looking upward, he saw a long metal rod holding the curtains over the window. He estimated the rod to be about a meter long. It was hardly ideal, but maybe it could act as a temporary stand-in for his staff. Reaching upward, Elric yanked the rod out of the wall and let the curtains fall to the floor.

In both of Elric's hands sat his replacement quarterstaff. While it was a downgrade in just about every way imaginable, it was better than nothing. At least, that was what he hoped. Sometimes things could be worse than useless, he thought. A meter-long metal rod could be particularly useful for bashing, but Elric really wanted to know if it could hold his weight. He slammed one end down on the floor and lifted himself off the ground slowly, amazed that the rod didn't crumple immediately.

Elric's hands were planted on the top end of the rod as his legs lifted into the air. He leaned forward, balancing his center of gravity against the end of the pole. Once he was satisfied, he lowered himself back to the ground. This will do, he thought. On his feet, Elric slung the rod around his back and patted it gently. 

All the while, Yori had picked up her ghillie coat. She wrapped it around herself out of habit. It wasn't like she needed it; she wasn't planning on doing any sort of lookout today. Still, it could come in handy later. Once she was satisfied with her coat, she was just about ready to leave.

Calina had nothing to take. All she needed were the clothes on her back and her swords. She sat at the corner of the caboose watching Elric and Yori gather their stuff like the diligent soldiers she always thought they were. Now that she had a closer look at actual, trained soldiers, she realized they can be pretty childish at times. Especially Elric. "Ready, y'all?" 

"As ready as we'll ever be, I suppose," Yori answered.

Elric wordlessly walked out of the blown-out hole in the caboose, hopping down onto the tracks below. Ahead of him was a vast landscape covered with trees and grass. It was beautiful, actually, how the tracks divided two chunks of forest in half. Grass as green as could be rose from the Earth, contrasting against the clear, blue sky above. Sure, they were stuck in the middle of nowhere, but at least it was pretty. 

Yori was next to hop out of the caboose, followed by Calina. They stepped off the rails and began walking alongside the tracks. Calina chose to take the lead, bringing the other two along towards Catol. It was going to be a far walk, that much was obvious. What Calina didn't know was just how long it'd be. "Hey, so, uh, any idea how close we are to Catol?" she asked.

Elric reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out a folded up map. Unfurling it, he began to trace the train line up to where he believed they were at the moment. "Judging by the position of Mt. Creata and the topography of the surrounding landscape... I would have to say we are about a ten days' walk from Catol's borders. That's assuming we walk for at least eight hours a day, every day. If we pick it up to ten or twelve hours, we can get there even sooner."

"That's not so bad," Yori said. "I mean, we need to scavenge for food and water, but it could be a lot worse."

"I know how to get food real easily, y'know! Good thing you kept me around!" Calina boasted.

Elric thought about having Calina around. As much as he hated her guts, she had her uses. "Tell us more about your life as a thief, Calina. I'm curious as to how you became one in the first place."

Calina huffed. "It ain't really much of a story. Been a part of the Guild ever since I could remember, really. That guy Espio mentioned--Lacrimosa--he's always been kinda like a dad to me and some of the others. Everyone used to be so nice to me like we were all family."

"So why did you leave?" Elric asked.

"Lacrimosa used to have this policy of no weapons, ever. No weapons during thieving missions meant if we got caught, we had to run or use our bare hands. I nearly got killed a few times and was startin' to get worried. Y'know, like, what if this mission is my last? What if I ain't coming home today? I guess you guys think about that stuff all the time if you're soldiers, huh?" Calina thought.

Yori realized she hadn't thought of that possibility at all. There wasn't anything stopping her from dying in the line of duty aside from her own skills as a soldier. Elric, too. Their safety hadn't been guaranteed for a long time and it only just hit Yori now. "Yeah..." she said sheepishly.

"I dunno what the fuck happened, though. Emada had some brass knuckles, Espio had bombs, maybe Lacri's dead serious about this. All 'cause of some swords! Lacri told me to steal 'em from this fancy-ass place and bring 'em back. Well, I grabbed 'em, snuck out, and just... never went back to the Guild. I figured I was safer on my own with these swords than I was at the Guild without 'em," Calina explained, waving her hands as she did. 

"You have a really strong survival instinct, Calina," Yori commented.

"I do! For better or worse, I guess." 

"You really thought living on your own was safer than staying in a group?" Elric wondered.

"Dude, I told you I almost got killed a dozen times. I couldn't just chill there, I had to do missions and shit. Dangerous stuff. All without any way to fend for myself if shit went down! Plus I told you my affinity is only good for hiding, not for anything else," Calina said.

"How did Emada and Espio find you if your affinity is about stealth? How did you ever get caught to begin with? I don't understand," Elric wondered.

"Hey, I'd love to know, too, dude. Maybe my affinity broke?" Calina shrugged.

"That's not--" Elric was interrupted.

"You said you lived in a tent in the woods?" Yori asked again.

"Yeah! It was kinda nice, actually. All I had to do was scavenge for food, usually stuff for stews since that was so easy to make. Sometimes I'd find some careless people leaving their shit around and I could swoop in and take it! Not bad, huh?" Calina boasted. 

"Well, you're certainly nothing if not resourceful," Elric admitted. 

"What about your family?" Yori asked once more. "Lacrimosa's not actually your dad, is he? What about your mom or siblings?"

Calina paused. "I dunno, really. Lacri's not my dad, but it never really bothered me that much. I knew him ever since I was young, so I kinda just went with the flow."

"In any case," Elric said, quickly changing the topic, "I think we should worry about where we plan to stay for the night."

Elric sat the duffel bag on the ground with a soft thud. It was modestly sized, maybe enough to hold a spare change of clothes for three people at most. However, upon opening, the bag seemed to have a depth far exceeding expectation. Staring into it was almost like staring into an abyss, yet somehow better furnished. Elric reached his hand in deeper and deeper until his shoulder hit the zippered edges, noticing that his hand should've been buried in the ground. It was like the bag was bigger on the inside! 

Something caught Elric's hand and caused him to pull upward. In his hand was a single survival tent, large enough to house one person max--two if they were quite intimate. The tent was rolled up into a neat cylinder, conserving space in what appeared to be an infinite vacuum. "This is quite disorienting," Elric said.

"Dude I think you got a broken bag," Calina pointed. 

"What, exactly, would a broken bag entail, Calina?" Elric asked. 

"Whatever the hell's going on with that one. It looks all sorts of fucked up." 

Elric unraveled the tent, watching it spring to life before his very eyes. It formed into a squarish triangle shape, intended mostly for sleeping in but with a little room for kneeling. It was about half as long as Elric's body, making it around three feet/one meter on all sides. It was hardly ideal, but it would have to do. "There are three tents in the bag. That should suffice for all of us."

Yori knelt down in front of the bag, peering inside for herself. It disoriented her, staring into a space that shouldn't exist. Impossible geometry, and yet not so impossible. Affinities were never something she could fully wrap her head around; she always needed a little more time to understand affinities more than those who already had them. Elric could stare into the bag and feel just fine, but Yori couldn't. She pulled away and looked all around, regaining her composure. Her eyes had unfocused like she had been staring through foggy glass. "Maybe I won't look in there next time..." she said.

Now Calina was now more curious than ever. She shoved Yori aside and stuck her head inside the bag. To her, it was like poking her head out of a hole. The zipper scraped against her neck as she looked all around, seeing a large space packed with clothes, some canned food, a couple of useful survival tools. What if she fell inside the bag? Could she fall inside at all? What would happen if she did?

Elric grabbed Calina by the shoulders and yanked her out of the bag, throwing her away. "Calina, please don't do that."

"Aw, it's not so bad, Elric. It's not like it's infinite in there, I think. Dunno, couldn't really tell. Made my head hurt something fierce," Calina rubbed her temples.

"You too, huh?" Yori asked.

"Alright, well, I suppose I'll be in charge of all bag-related duties. If it bothers you two that much then I'll take care of it," Elric offered.

"This is kinda like Charlie's pocket, isn't it?" Yori remembered Charlie pulling all the individual parts of a handgun out from a small satchel on their chest. There was no way the whole thing could fit in a pocket that was no larger than a palm. Perhaps Charlie was right about this being some sort of affinity? 

It hadn't even been an hour since Charlie had died. Or, if they were lucky, disappeared. The reality of the situation hadn't hit Elric yet, but he still lamented their loss. "Yes, it is."

"Poor Charlie..." Yori had folded up their hood and stuffed it into her pocket. It would've been disrespectful to throw it away, she thought. 

"Now that we know where we're sleeping, we should probably keep walking, yes?" Elric glanced at Yori, then Calina.

"You got it, duder!" Calina gave him a thumbs up.

Ignoring Calina, Elric stuffed the tent inside of the duffel bag once more. He picked it up and slung it over his shoulder, realizing it was far lighter than it should have been. Curious, he thought. 

As Elric picked the bag up, Yori noticed the ring on Elric's finger. There was no way he had that before, did he? She would've noticed it if he'd been wearing it for a long time. It was definitely recent, she thought. However, she didn't think now was a good time to bring it up, especially if they'd be spending the next week or so walking. There would be plenty of time for that later. For now, they had a job to do: reach Catol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Affinities are weird. Some can be really practical, like the ability to just make bags of holding, while others downright suck.


	20. Silicosis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we explore another life.

Nighttime. The sun had long since set, leaving behind only the comforting dark upon the town. It was a small town, houses no larger than one, maybe two floors, and only a hundred or so homes with small markets scattered in between. Each building was likely made of old brick or stone, cheap yet efficient materials. The roads paved only with well-treaded dirt from carriages and the occasional horse. The town had sprung up in the last fifty years as a result of a large demand for a mining workforce. The homes were cobbled together quickly and cheaply to hold as many workers as close to the mines as possible.

A small house flanked by other small houses sat in a small neighborhood. It was a single floor, its walls thin. Everything that happened could be heard from anywhere else inside. Privacy was a luxury few in this neighborhood could afford. To sum, a house was more important than having thick walls. Four walls were certainly better than none. 

The outside was nothing special: some windows and a couple of doors. The interior was densely furnished to make as much use of the space as possible. Inside the living room was a modestly sized couch with a wooden table covered in books directly in front of it. On the other side of the couch was another bookcase with various family photos decorating the top. The next room over was the kitchen, cabinets and various appliances covered the room top to bottom. A gas stove lay at the other end of the kitchen, as well as a basic metal sink to the left of it. 

The other two rooms were bedrooms. One was for a married couple and the other was for their child. The master bedroom was the largest room in the house although not by much. The bed took up most of the space in the room, leaving very little for anyone to walk through it. The bed itself was quite sparse: its wooden frame holding a mattress barely any thicker than the blanket on top of it. The other bedroom was more or less the same, aside from a thinner bed and an even thinner room. This bedroom, however, was littered with even more books than the living room. Literature stacked from the floor to the ceiling blanketed the room in knowledge and fun.

A teen Creaden lay in the bed, reading a murder mystery novel. Unraveling the secrets behind criminal cases had always been interesting. What happened? Why did the killer do this? How did they get away? Questions that were all too interesting to go unanswered plagued the young adult's mind. 

"Shan! Your dinner is getting cold!" 

"Be right there, dad!" 

Their name was Shanalotte but preferred Shan or Shana. Full names were too formal in their opinion. Quick and easy was always preferable to slow and difficult. Shan folded the book and filed it into their personal bookcase (along with the dozens of other novels they had to read). Once the book was neatly organized, Shan exited their bedroom and walked into the kitchen where a fanciful feast awaited.

At the table sat their parents, two fathers. The table was small, much like everything in the house, but it was comfortable. A large dish sat in the center, holding some sort of meat with some vegetable garnish to decorate. The first father, Finn, helped himself to a large portion of the main course, his stomach growling audibly as he did. The second father, Dagda, stole a few slices of meat from his husband's dish, knowing he'd never notice. 

"There you are, Shan. We were supposed to have dinner fifteen minutes ago," Finn grumbled as he reached for a fork.

"Sorry, dad," they said as they grabbed a chair, sitting down at the table. "I was kinda caught up in this one chapter of _Unsolved Murders_ and..."

"Tell us more after _cough cough_ after dinner, okay?" Finn held his elbow up to his mouth as he coughed. 

"Finn, honey, you really need to see the doctor about that," Dagda patted Finn on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," Finn coughed again.

All the while, Shanalotte had begun helping themself to whatever was left of dinner. The meat was somewhat cool, but it was still warm enough to be edible. They hated cold meat. "Do you have any lozenges, dad?" 

"I used them all up at work today. I'll get some more tomorrow," Finn said.

The next few minutes were relatively silent except for the sounds of clinking forks and plates, interrupted occasionally by a cough. Sometimes there was nothing to say at the dinner table, and that was okay. This time, however, Shanalotte felt an unusual tension. They noticed that Finn and Dagda had been taking sharp glances at each other the entire time. Was there something going on? 

"And can you chew with your mouth closed, please? You're grossing out Shan." Dagda pointed at them with his fork.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Shan _loves_ when I chew with my mouth open, right?" Finn began exaggerating his jaw movements as he ground his food.

"Yeah, uh, maybe not...? Dad-ga is right." Shan rubbed the back of their head awkwardly.

"Aw, what the..." Finn said, coughing. "Augh, jeez. Sorry. I think I'm gonna cut dinner short tonight, actually." He coughed once more as he stood up from the table, gathering his untouched food and scooping it back into the main dish. 

"You barely touched your food," Dagda commented.

Finn didn't answer right away. Instead, he was cleaning up his spot at the table with a soft hum. "Oh, I'm not really hungry. Had a big lunch."

"You left your lunch at home." 

"Ah, whatever." Finn shrugged it off. "I'll be in bed. Gonna catch up on some reading while I'm at it. If I don't see you, Shan, good night!" He walked over and planted a kiss on Shan's head with an exaggerated 'mwah'. 

Shan chuckled. "Night, dad." 

With a quick wave, Finn excused himself from the kitchen. The room was once again silent; neither Dagda nor Shan had resumed eating. They stared at each other briefly, knowing something had to be said, but not what. Even if they did know, would they want to say it? 

"So, when are you going to start mining?" Dagda sipped his glass of water. 

Shan let out an exasperated sigh. "Do I have to? Can't I do anything else?"

"If you have other plans, I'm all ears. Mining is just convenient and, well, _stable_. That's not going away anytime soon." Dagda reasoned. 

Shan played with the pile of meat on their plate, swirling around pieces with their fork. Their eyes had been drawn away from her father's piercing gaze. Looking anywhere else was preferable. "I could be an author. I had some ideas for some books."

"Who's gonna publish them?"

"Someone will, I'd hope. I think they're pretty good, kinda like the ones I'm reading right now." Shan refused to make eye contact.

The room fell silent once more. Dagda let out a long, low sigh as quietly as he could. His exhaustion was growing more visible by the second, not that Shan could tell. It wore on him like an everpresent stress that neither time nor relaxation could alleviate. It was a permanent companion. 

Time passed in awkward silence. Shan had long since finished eating, their utensils stacked neatly on the plate. Dagda had just finished eating. He stood up and grabbed his dishes so he could leave them in the sink. The empty plates in his hands reminded him of his husband's lack of appetite. It concerned him greatly, but he didn't want to add any further to Finn's--or Shan's--stress.

Shan stood up from the table, walking towards Dagda. They took the dishes from his hands and dumped them into the sink. "I'll take care of the dishes, dad-ga," Shan grinned.

"...Thanks, Shan," he mumbled.

"Is everything okay?" Shan asked.

Dagda paused. "Yeah, it's fine."

Shan squinted a little bit, glancing to the side at Dagda. "You never say 'it's fine' when things are actually fine. You're supposed to say 'things are fine'. 'It' implies there's something wrong." Shan suspected Dagda was hiding something.

"Honey, not everything is like a detective novel. Please just... trust me, okay? Everything's going to be fine," Dagda said sternly.

"Dad's not sick is he?" Shan asked.

"I don't think so, no. It's probably just overexertion at work. I really wish he could take a day off." 

"How come he's coughing and you're not? You both work really hard, don't you?" Shan pressed the issue while scrubbing the dishes.

"We both work as hard as we can, Shan. Sometimes Finn pushes himself too hard." 

"It definitely doesn't have anything to do with mining, huh?" Shan asserted.

Dagda spun around and pressed his back against the wall next to the sink. After folding his arms and letting out a gentle sigh, he faced Shan again. "Mining is perfectly safe. You can see I'm just fine, can't you?" Shan pointed all over his body, revealing no noticeable scars or bruises or anything. "See? If you're worried about mining making Finn sick, it's not. If it were that bad, I'd be sick too."

"So he _is_ sick, then?" Shan felt smart, finally getting Dagda to admit something.

"Ah," Dagda rubbed his cheek. "The doctor said it was overexertion like I said earlier. That's like a sickness."

Shan began stacking cleaned plates on the counter. One by one they piled up until no more remained. In their frustration, Shan dunked their hands into the sink and squeezed them, watching suds and bubbles slide between their fingers. "A cough? No appetite? Frequently tired? That doesn't sound like he's just working too hard. I've been studying, and--"

"Shanalotte, that is enough. Please, no more." Dagda's voice cracked. "Let's trust the good doctor. I don't want to worry about nothing, and I especially don't want you to worry more than you already have to."

Shan stared down into the sink and refused to meet Dagda's eyes. They began filing the dishes and utensils away in their proper drawers and cabinets silently. The soft clinks and clanks of porcelain and metal filled the silent room like a gentle percussion set. "Sorry," they muttered.

Dagda rubbed his eyes with both hands, squinting and blinking rapidly once he was done. "It's okay. I know you just want to help, and I appreciate that, but..."

"I'm sorry..." Shan muttered again. 

A single tear trailed down Shan's eye, falling from their cheek to the countertop below. Dagda noticed and grabbed them tightly, bringing Shan in for a long and gentle hug. His warm body wrapped around theirs like a soft blanket and Shan would be lying if they said it didn't help. They wrapped their arms around Dagda in turn, returning the hug with a gentle sniffle. 

"It's okay. Everything is okay," Dagda rubbed Shan's head. 

Shan sniffled once more. No more tears fell, but they knew there should've been more. "I don't want to work in the mines, dad-ga. I don't..."

"Hey, hey, hey. Listen. It'll be okay. If all three of us work for a while, maybe we can move on up! Literally and figuratively, in fact."

Shan smirked.

"Finn and I are doing pretty well, all things considered. Yeah, it's hard work, but we pull through because we love you. And hey, if you really don't want to mine, maybe you can find something else! Not that I'm sure what, but you're smart. Smarter than I am, that's for sure." Dagda suggested.

"I've been trying my best to get noticed by a publisher..." Shan trailed off.

Dagda's grip loosened somewhat as he pulled away from Shan, looking at them. "Maybe something a little less ambitious? Not that your writing isn't good, it's great! It's probably just easier and better in the short term to find something different, you know?"

"I suppose so," Shan sighed again, pulling away from Dagda. "I think I wanna go take a walk. I need to clear my head if that's okay."

Dagda nodded. "Go ahead. I'll be in my room with Finn. Stay safe out there, okay?"

"Okay."

Shan stepped back and walked towards the front door, grabbing their coat from a hook. It was dull and worn and had definitely seen better days, but it was still mostly functional. It was the most torn and tattered article of clothing Shan had, but coats were of utmost importance in the colder weather. They slid their head through the hole at the top and pulled downward, fitting it. It was kind of baggy, but Shan would rather have something be too large than too small. 

The cool autumn air bit Shan's lips as they stepped outside. A harsh breeze nearly blew the door off its hinges. It started Shan, nearly making them jump out of their fur. They closed the door with a huff and began walking around the neighborhood of small homes.

Each house was a lot like the other: small, cobbled-together masses that looked cheap and felt even cheaper. They were all made of some combination of brick and sheet metal, making them functional if not sightly. Almost all of them were a single floor tall. 

It was clear the budget for this little township was not quite enough for more comfortable living. However, most people who lived here were miners. As such, they didn't make a whole of money and had very little once bills were paid. 

Shan lamented this. It didn't feel right. Why did they _have_ to work in the mines? It just wasn't fair at all. It was all Shan could think about on the walk, how unfair it all really is. Not even the nighttime scenery was enough to ease their nerves. 

After a rather uncomfortable walk, Shan found themself in the town square. It was quite barebones, all things considered. A dirt square at the center of town where all the roads coalesced. Small markets dotted each corner but had long since closed for the day. Hardly anybody was out and about either, likely because of the cold weather. There wasn't any snow on the ground, but the windchill was too much for most people.

Something caught Shan's eye at one end of the town square. It looked like some sort of note had been nailed to the side of a stack of crates. It was almost teasing, really. Shan walked towards the crates and ripped the note away. It was a small piece of paper folded in half with a small hole at the top where the nail had been ripped from. Shan began reading the note.

_No, I agree. Something has to be done. This cannot continue._  
Perhaps we should parley? Return this note to the dead drop to coordinate a time and date.  
May the Light of Truth guide your way. 

"The Light of Truth...? Parley?" Shan muttered. What the hell did they just find?

Shan could hear some movement coming from behind. Startled, they slipped the note back onto the crate, trying to make it look like it hadn't been touched. Once it was back in place, Shan sprinted for the nearest building and ducked behind a wall. Now that Shan was out of view, they poked an ear out from behind the wall. 

They could hear what sounded like a single pair of footsteps. It was hard to tell with the wind roaring in their ears. After the footsteps stopped, paper crinkled and crumbled. Whoever was reading the note mumbled something and crumbled the note up. 

"Fuckin'... Ah, whatever. That's gonna be fun to arrange..." The voice grumbled before walking away. 

Shan waited minutes after the footsteps faded into the distance, just to make sure they were gone. Once they were certain, they stepped out from behind the closed market and returned to the crates. The note was gone, as was the nail. There was zero evidence anything had even happened here. This only piqued Shan's curiosity further. What was the Light of Truth? Who wanted to parley? Why? What can't continue?

It was getting late and Shan was getting cold. Heading home was probably a better idea than freezing outside. Shan began walking home, hands in their pockets, thinking. From what they could imagine, the Light of Truth was some kind of organization, likely a secret one. Different ideas and possibilities swirled around in their mind, many of which didn't make any sense at all. 

Before long, Shan was home once more. They stood outside their home and unlocked the door, swinging it open and stepping inside. They shivered as they felt the warm air coat their body like a warm blanket. They shut the door behind them and hung up their coat, letting out a gentle sigh. 

The clock at the end of the room struck ten, letting out a low, constant droning. Shan usually went to bed around this time, but tonight wasn't like most nights. They rushed to their bedroom and sat at their small desk, gathering pens and papers to write down their thoughts. 

"Light of Truth... Parley... Secret organization... Note in the town square..." Shan mumbled. They had created a small, bullet-pointed list of all the details they recalled from their walk. "Maybe I should keep an eye out for more of this Light of Truth stuff. That sounds... fun, actually."

For once, Shan felt inspired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's always a light at the end of the tunnel.


	21. Schism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Elric, Yori, and Calina open up.

In a dense forest, Yori began the hunt. Tree trunks lowered her effective line of sight to no more than a few dozen feet in any direction. Wearing her full uniform and ghillie coat, Yori crawled along the forest floor. 

Ahead of her was a single deer. It was gnawing away at the grass next to a tree peacefully, its jaw chewing rapidly. The thought of eating fresh meat made Yori salivate. It had only been two days since they had abandoned the caboose, but it felt like an eternity without a solid meal. All she's managed to hunt thus far were small birds, nothing too filling. Now she managed to corner her next lunch, all she had to do was go in for the kill.

With her rifle in front of her, Yori lined her eye up to the scope and peered downrange. She could see every detail of the deer's fur, little imperfections or dust particles lodged in the brown fluff. It was almost too cute for her to reconsider. She didn't really _want_ to hunt, but she was hungry. 

Yori's finger wrapped around the trigger and squeezed, firing the bullet square through the deer's head. It was killed instantly and felt no pain, but Yori felt bad anyway. She staggered to her feet and trotted over to the deer's carcass. After a moment of silence, Yori stowed her rifle in her sling and attempted to lift the deer up, but failed. 

"I could drag it, maybe..." she thought aloud. 

"Didja kill it?!" A voice called out from behind Yori, startling her.

Yori turned around and saw Calina running after her, stopping just short. "Oh, hey. Can you help me lift this?" Yori pointed at the deer.

"Whoa." Calina was impressed. She got down on her knees and stared at the bullet hole. "Hell of a good shot, Yori." 

"Thanks. Can you help me, though? It's kinda heavy." Yori lamented her lack of upper body strength.

Calina boasted. "Of course I can! Just watch." Dusting her hands, Calina bent down and picked up the deer with both arms, slinging it over her shoulder nearly effortlessly. To Yori, it was like watching someone lift a pillow off the ground. How did Calina make it look so effortless?

"Wow." Yori was flabbergasted.

"Hey, we all got somethin' we're good at. You can shoot and I can lift. C'mon, let's get back to the grump." 

"You mean Elric?" Yori asked.

"I never met a guy grumpier than him," Calina chuckled.

"He's not _that_ grumpy," Yori defended.

"He's pretty fuckin' grumpy, dude."

"...Maybe."

Calina led the way with the deer hanging off her shoulder. Yori followed closely behind and couldn't help but stare at Calina's backside the entire way back. Wow, she was even more buff from behind, Yori thought. Too bad Calina was wearing a skirt that covered her butt... Focus, Yori, she thought. Now was not the time to ogle strong women.

Maybe later.

Before long, Yori and Calina arrived at their little temporary housing situation. Three foldable tents formed a triangle around a small campfire with a few overturned logs as makeshift benches. The camp was in the middle of a small clearing in the woods with Elric tending to the fire. In his hand was a long stick as he poked at the tinder, watching the flame feed off of it and crackle. Every now and then, he would glance at the ring on his left pinky finger, the very same ring Yori had yet to ask him about. He stared at the ring, then the fire, and then the ring once more, apparently lost in thought. 

Calina crept up from behind Elric and slammed the deer carcass onto the log next to him with a loud thud. In his surprise, Elric leaped from the log and soared through the air for over a full second before landing on his feet. His fur stood on end as he shuddered and huffed, obviously very tense. Looking down at the ground, Elric realized he had accidentally activated his affinity, leaving behind a small earthen disc beneath where his feet kicked off from the ground. "That's never happened to me before. What is _wrong_ with you, Calina?!" Elric was flustered.

"Dude, holy shit. You can fly." Calina was more impressed than anything.

"I think he jumped eight feet in the air." Yori sounded equally impressed. 

"Yori," Elric sighed, "can we focus on Calina's habit of startling me at every opportunity? We should be discouraging this behavior, not encouraging it." 

"Oh, right. Yeah." Yori turned to face her. "Maybe be a little bit nicer to Elric?"

"Alright, alright. Sorry, bro. Just thought I'd try and lighten the mood around here, ya know? Morale and whatnot?" Calina extended her hand.

Elric stared at Calina's hand before shaking it begrudgingly. "Apology accepted."

As Calina shook his hand, she noticed the ring on his finger. "Where'd you get that?" she asked, not having noticed he had it for days now.

"Yeah, Elric. I've been meaning to ask! It's very pretty," Yori mentioned.

Elric was hesitant to respond as he remembered the promise he made to Charlie. "It was in the duffel bag. It looked nice, so I put it on."

Yori doubted Elric's response but didn't want to press the issue. If he had something to say, he'd say it. He wouldn't hide things from her on purpose, right? Even if he would, Yori doubted he'd hide things of significance. As far as she knew, they shared a strong bond and could tell each other anything. 

"...In any case, sorry for throwing dirt at the back of your head and shouting 'Earth to Elric!'. It _was_ kinda funny though..." Calina chuckled, remembering how hard she laughed at the time.

Yori couldn't help but giggle as well. She felt ashamed immediately afterward and coughed, pretending she wasn't just laughing. 

Elric sighed, wanting to change the subject immediately. "I suppose we have enough meat to last us until we reach Catol? That's quite lovely, but I'll personally be sticking to the rations in this bag," he said, patting it. In his mind, Elric knew full well he could (and probably should) eat the deer meat. Protein was always good, but Elric never grew an appetite for meat. That's not to say he would never eat it, but he'd prefer anything else. "I wish we had some nuts," he lamented.

"I've got some nuts for ya right here," Calina cackled. 

Elric stared blankly, not getting whatever joke Calina seemed to be making. 

Yori, however, snickered and covered her lips with her hand. There was no way Elric was this slow on the uptake, was he? Even though they grew up together, she was always marveled by his inability to understand slang. Maybe Calina would be able to help him with that? It would be a great way to get them to bond.

The last two days had been tense. Elric was very hesitant to accept Calina's help, but he folded to Yori's whims. It never occurred to Yori that she had such sway over him, how he would follow her to hell and back even if she didn't ask him to. She always thought Elric was just a good friend and could put aside his differences to work towards a larger goal. Of course, Yori also had to appreciate Calina for doing her best to work with him despite his hesitance. 

Calina and Elric hardly talked to each other much, but whenever they did, it tended to be short and to the point. Any conversation of significant length usually led to an argument between them, which Yori didn't want at all. If she noticed things were getting particularly heated, she would mediate. 

The situation only grew more complicated with each passing day. Elric had been Yori's lifelong friend and she could never abandon him or ignore him outright. Calina had only just shown up in her life but already felt like a reliable and trustworthy friend. Also, she was quite attractive. Yori refused to admit it out loud and Elric never noticed, but Yori found herself checking out Calina more often than not. Maybe someday Yori would try and make a move if things turned out well. 

"Here, lemme butcher this bitch. Didja know I used to carve meat back at the guild?" Calina grabbed the deer and dragged it closer to the fire. Unsheathing her swords, she began hacking away at the carcass to carve out large chunks.

"Really?" Yori sat down on the log, her hands folded in between her legs. "That's pretty handy." 

Calina continued slicing away, some blood staining her gloves and blades. "Someone had to do it. Figured I might as well! It meant I got first dibs on dinner, so that was always good." 

"Sounds like it takes a lot of upper body strength..." Yori grinned.

"Oh, definitely." Calina hacked away. "You don't get the good cuts of meat without getting buff as fuuuuuck in the process." 

Calina had finished slicing a particularly meaty chunk of deer and stabbed a stick through the length of it. "Here ya go," she said, handing it to Yori like a lollipop. 

Yori took the gigantic chunk of meat and stared at it, twisting the stick to look all around. "Calina, this isn't cooked." 

"Is that a problem?" Calina asked innocently.

"You can't eat raw meat," Yori insisted.

"Maybe _you_ can't." Calina shrugged.

With a sigh, Yori lowered it onto the roaring campfire in front of her. She never really roasted anything like this, so she just assumed you spun it in a circle to cook it evenly. After a minute, Yori noticed no difference in the outer layer of the meat. "This is gonna take forever to cook, isn't it? We should probably try thinner slices." Yori suggested, her ears folding downward in disappointment.

"Eh, you're right. Emada'd usually scorch em before serving 'em. He was the chef, so to speak." Calina's expression darkened a little but brightened back up immediately. "Anyway, lemme slice it up for ya." 

Yori handed over her stick and watched Calina slice it into a dozen smaller strips, making a makeshift kebab out of the whole thing. It was quite fancy, given the circumstances. A nice stick and some skewered meat would be a great lunch.

All the while, Elric reached into the duffel bag behind him and pulled out a can of beans. With a spare survival knife, Elric ran the blade along the rim of the can, opening it. The beans stared back at him, unappetizing and bland. If nothing else, beans at least tasted better when cooked. Elric left the can in the fire to cook and waited patiently, staring at it. 

The last thing he wanted to do was talk to Calina. Somehow, Yori was okay with making friends with her. It didn't really make any sense to him--why would she accept her so willingly? After all that she's done?

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't frustrated. She owes them a lot. To accept her with open arms was almost insulting, really. Try as he might, Elric couldn't stay upset at Yori. He knew Yori was thinking of the bigger picture here, but Elric couldn't let go of Calina's gross negligence. It got someone killed! 

It was everything he feared would happen. The moment he looks away or drops his guard, someone would suffer. The flames of anger still raged inside of him, but his outer demeanor remained cool. He didn't know how long it would stay that way; fires have a habit of engulfing everything in its path.

"Why don't you tell us more about the Guild, Calina? Maybe something about Emada or Espio?" Yori asked to break the silence.

Calina sat down on another overturned log, chomping away at her own makeshift kebab of meat. "There isn't much to say, I guess. I was pretty close with a lot of the people, but that was a few years ago. People change."

"You acted like you didn't even recognize Emada or Espio, but you just said how Emada used to scorch meat. What happened, exactly?" Yori pried. 

Calina paused to think. "I know they _were_ Emada and Espio, but now? Sure don't recognize 'em. They never acted like that before I left."

Elric piped up. "Have you considered the possibility that your leaving greatly upset them and now they hold nothing but resentment for you?"

"Elric, that's enough." Yori glared at him.

"It's just a possibility, Yori. It's not like we can ask them now, can we?" Elric shrugged. 

Calina was silent. Maybe he had a point? She did kind of abandon what little family she had left. All she had thought about until recently was her own safety and not the impact of her actions on others. The consequences of her choices began to weigh on her, guilting her into feeling even worse about herself than she already did. 

Yori spoke up. "Calina can talk when she's ready to. She's under no obligation to--"

"I think she's under _every_ obligation to explain herself," Elric demanded. 

"Alright, fine! What do you want me to say?!" Calina shouted.

Elric huffed. "I want your word that you'll keep us safe as we head towards Catol. No more running away when the situation calls for action, not inaction."

"You have my word, man." Calina stomped her foot on the ground below. "I didn't want anything bad to happen, you know. I liked your friend!"

"Let Charlie's death be a reminder that your actions--or lack thereof--have consequences. If anything were to happen to Yori..." Elric trailed off.

Calina didn't want to interrupt. Somehow she felt it was a bad idea to do so.

"...I'd deal with you myself," Elric promised.

Yori could feel the situation growing tenser by the second. A wordless cloud of stress hung over the group, raining nothing but negativity and sorrow among them all. Elric felt nothing but resentment and self-hatred, Yori felt helpless, and Calina felt like nothing but a bad luck charm. Morale was at an all-time low. 

There had to be some way to fix this, Yori thought. Maybe there was something in the absurdly large duffel bag that could help? Yori reached behind Elric and slid the bag over to her side and opened it, reaching her hand inside and feeling around. She never got used to how deep the bag actually was compared to how it appeared to be. Her fingers grazed along a number of differently textured surfaces, all of which felt quite nice to touch. Maybe Yori would come back to this later for some sensory stimulation? 

Focus, Yori. Her fingers eventually grasped a sheet of paper and pulled it out. Upon closer examination, the paper turned out to be a letter folded up and sealed with two names on the front.

_To Elric and Yori._

Yori wasted no time opening the letter and unfolding it. She read it aloud.

_Hey guys!_

_Crow here. Hope you guys aren't too busy to read letters every now and then. I heard border patrol sucks! Anyway, we've all been good here. Sky, Whisper, and I (Crow) have all been good. We kinda hung around even after graduation for our specialist stuff._

_Still kinda wish you'd applied, Yori! Would've been a lot better than having Witch over here being really annoying all day long. Can we trade? Anyway, other than that, it's been great. You learn so much specialist stuff that I can't even talk about half of it!_

_I don't really know what else to say. I heard from Nortia herself that you gotta escort that weird Charlie person to Catol, right? Sky wanted to tell you guys not to forget about that fish dish he mentioned--he thinks it's called Ceviche or something?_

_Anyway, have fun in Catol!!_

_-Black Crow_

After a brief pause, Calina was the first to speak up. "Who the fuck names their kid 'Crow' anyway?" 

"They're code names, military stuff," Yori explained.

"Why do you need code names?" asked Calina.

"Huh, good question. I never thought about it like that." Yori rubbed her chin with her hand. What _was_ the point anyway? It's not like they were secret soldiers or doing anything confidential. Well, not necessarily. 

"So wait, you two got code names then? What're they?" Calina asked again.

"Well, I'm Phantom Hawk," Yori said, then pointed at Elric, "and he's Feat Feet."

"Feat... Feet?" Calina looked confused. "As in like, a feat of strength and... feet?" 

Yori nodded. 

Elric was hesitant to acknowledge Calina's presence at all. He barely even paid attention to the letter reading either. After all, he was never great friends with anyone at boot camp, so why would he care? Those were Yori's friends, not his. 

"Those are pretty cool," Calina admitted.

Elric looked up at Calina in a mixture of confusion and disbelief. There was no way she was sincere.

"I mean, I really like Phantom Hawk, but Feat Feet? That's a pretty good play on words!" Calina waved her arms in the air.

Well, that was certainly the first time anyone was at all positive about his code name. People usually giggled or cracked a joke, so this was a nice change of pace, he thought. "Thanks," he said.

"Hey, no problem, dude," she said.

Yori giggled in delight. Finally, they were starting to make some sort of peace. Even though it was only baby steps, anything to get them cooperating would be incredibly helpful. 

In the end, Yori still felt mixed about Calina, but she leaned more towards the side of sympathizing than vilifying her. Yes, Calina messed up, but Yori knew she was scared more than anything. Besides, Calina won't have to stick around forever. Once they reach Catol, everyone can go their own merry way.

"We still don't really know what we're going to do once we reach Catol, do we?" Yori turned to Elric.

Elric rubbed his forehead. "We should perhaps retrieve Charlie's body and return it to Nortia. I would imagine we should get in contact with her first to see if we could somehow carry out the mission without Charlie."

"Should we mention Calina?" Yori asked.

"We could mention we were overwhelmed by multiple members of the Thieves Guild and lost Charlie in an explosion. That sounds a lot less damning than the full truth," Elric suggested.

"I suppose so. I hadn't even considered the shit General Nortia's going to put us through." Yori thought about it and shuddered. What, exactly, would happen to them once they got back to Sabine? It was scary to imagine being jailed or dishonorably dismissed.

After everyone finished their respective meals, Elric put out the campfire. He rounded up the rest of everyone's loose belongings and shoved them into the duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Are we ready to move on?" he asked.

Yori and Calina nodded. 

"Let's not waste any more time then. Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, Elric avoids meat because he knows Calina will joke about it.


	22. Torn Apart, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, things get sharp.

Thirst. Water is a basic need for all life. It is the most necessary of all the basic needs to sustain oneself. One can go weeks without food but only days without water. 

And when the water runs out, lakes are a symbol of joy and life. 

Elric, Yori, and Calina had started to run extremely low on water. A few more days had passed since Yori hunted the deer, providing enough food to last for the carnivores of the group. However, water was a different story. No source of water had been particularly clean or fit for consumption, much to their regret.

The group traveled through the forest to limit their exposure to direct sunlight. Excess sweating would exacerbate their thirst, causing them to tire faster and thus lose time. The trees were good enough at shielding them from the harsh light, but thirst could not be avoided forever. 

Calina was the first to spot a lake directly ahead, just past some dense brush. In her excitement, she ran ahead and knelt down at the water's edge, her reflection staring back at her. "Oh, sweet, sweet water. How I missed you!" she cried out before dunking her head into the lake. Bubbles surfaced as her head swashed around, taking large gulps the entire time. After a few seconds, Calina lifted her head out and shook her hair dry, wiping the excess water from her brow. 

Elric and Yori walked up behind Calina and knelt down. A clean lake was certainly a welcome sight for both of them. 

"Should we take a break here?" Yori asked as her knees gave way, causing her to sit down directly on the grass below.

"It isn't a bad idea. Catol is within sight and we need energy for the final stretch." Elric mimicked Yori, sitting down directly on the grass. His legs were killing him, too. "We should be able to make it well before sunset." 

It was a great relief to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Catol's border was just a fuzzy line in the distance, but it was almost angelic in sight. 

"You two gonna drink up or what?" Calina spun around, panting with glee. 

"I should be alright for a little bit. If that water is contaminated, you should start vomiting soon." Elric bent over and began unzipping the duffel bag.

Calina crossed her arms and huffed. "That's... nice of you."

Elric began retrieving some small bottles from inside the bag. It would be nice to fill them with drinkable water for once and not the byproduct of once-clean water. However, Elric was always skeptical. The lake was most likely fine, but he preferred to be sure. Now would be an awful time for dysentery or cholera. 

"Alright, if you two are gonna drink and fill up, I need to go to the bathroom." Yori stood up after her short break and stretched her legs. "I'll be back soon, okay?" Yori said.

"Alright." Elric was barely paying attention, focusing instead on setting up the tents. 

Calina sighed quietly and gave a thumbs up, resigning to her fate of sitting next to Elric. 

Once Yori disappeared into the woods, Calina turned back to face the lake. She stared at it once more, noticing her reflection. Water surfaces were the closest thing she had to a mirror in a long time; she never had much time for reflecting anyway. She was reminded of the train incident once again and felt her stomach twist into a knot. 

Next time, things will be different. Well, hopefully, there wouldn't be a next time, but Calina was ready for it. 

"So how is the water, Calina?" Elric asked, breaking the silence.

"Huh?" Calina turned around, surprised Elric spoke to her first. This was new, she thought. "Oh, uh, s'fine." Calina grabbed her stomach. Who knew emotional pain could feel so real? As far as she could tell, she was actually having stomach pains at the moment. 

"Are you alright?" Elric asked standing up. He helped Calina to her feet. 

Calina felt a little bit dizzy, rubbing her head as she guided herself up. Her stomach felt fit to burst as though she had swallowed an entire four-course meal in one bite. She couldn't remember the last time her stomach hurt this much, not even the time she ate expired meat made her feel this ill. Her hand found its way onto her stomach out of habit, but the touch only exacerbated her pain and she quickly recoiled her hand away. "I'm fine."

"Are you certain? You look pale." Elric leaned in closer, noticing the color draining from Calina's face.

As she was about to reply, Calina spun around and leaned forward. Before she could even finish bending over, brown, chunky liquid began spewing from her mouth in a violent eruption. It exploded out of her mouth like a volcano and burned just as much as lava would. She could feel her tooth enamel eroding from the acidity of her fervent upheaval, burning her nose all the while. Adding insult to injury, the vomiting seemed unending. Calina was starting to feel dizzy from lack of oxygen, her own vomit nearly suffocating her. 

Adding to Calina's trauma, she could see red stains among the brown and black ichor spewing from her face. Not only was she vomiting everything she ate for the last few hours, but also her own blood. Her eyes opened violently as tears streamed down her cheeks. 

After what felt like hours, the vomiting finally ceased. Calina's panting was drawn out and strained, desperate for air as she fought against her own body to stay conscious. Everything in her sight was blurry, even her own hands in front of her face.

"You don't look fine at all," Elric commented, trying to hide his disgust.

Calina's vision finally returned and what she saw only added to her personal nightmare fuel. Icicles dotted the remnants of what was once her stomach's contents. Each one had a pointed tip that looked as though it had been dipped in blood. "What the fuck..." she panted.

Elric stared at Calina, then the chunky pulp next to her, and nearly wretched as well. It took all of his strength to fight back the bile at the back of his throat. "The water isn't any good then..." he mumbled.

"What the fuck?!" Calina shouted. Before she could scream again, blood splashed out of her throat and onto the grass below, staining it. She could feel blood filling her esophagus. "Am I gonna fucking drown in my own blood?!" she said as she hacked up some more blood.

"Something isn't right here." Elric rubbed his chin. Why were there icicles in her vomit? He bent down and winced at the vomit puddle before him. Using his metal pole, he poked and prodded until a single icicle separated from the rest of the bile. To his surprise, it didn't look as though it was melting at all. It was the middle of the day in summer, even without direct sunlight, ice should melt quickly. 

Something wasn't adding up here.

"I see you've stumbled into my little trap." A voice called out from a distance. "The water's quite dangerous, as you've seen. You were wise not to drink up, Creaden. You'd be wiser to leave now." 

Elric stood up straight, his ears twitching as he tried to locate the voice's source. "Are you another thief? You're after Calina, aren't you?"

"Dude, don't say that!" Calina coughed and sputtered. 

"Indeed," the voice replied. "Leave now, and you and your other Creaden friend will be spared. I think you'll find this decision to be most wise."

Calina's eyes widened, her pupils dilated. The voice sounded so familiar. The sense of arrogance, the casual threats, it was too similar to be a coincidence. "Zeva..." Calina muttered.

"Who?" Elric asked, his hands clutching the metal rod. 

"She's dangerous. Real... Really dangerous." Calina swallowed. She unsheathed her swords and readied them. "I didn't remember Emada," Calina coughed violently. "Or Espio, but her?" Calina coughed again. "She's serious." 

"You're dying, Calina. The icicles should've caused gastrointestinal perforations. If you don't seek medical attention immediately, you _will_ die." Zeva explained.

"Good to know puking blood's not gonna kill me then!" Calina shouted through her blood-stained teeth, her voice strained.

"Gastrointestinal perforations?" Elric thought to himself.

In his mind, Elric recounted the many hours of medical studies he had to undergo. Stab wounds and bullet wounds were among the most common topics. Usually, the wounds were external, like if someone grazed another with a knife or a bullet punctured fur and skin. The problem here was that Calina's wounds were internal. If Elric wanted to seal the wound, he would need to open Calina's stomach himself. 

There was no time for treatment. The thief had won. She didn't even have to be _around_ to do damage. Her presence was enough to keep Elric from helping Calina out. In the time it would take him to open Calina's abdomen and suture the wound shut, the thief could easily sneak up on them and take them both out. 

"I'm gonna deal with her myself." Calina sliced the blades together in front of her. "If I'm going down, I'll take her with me!" 

"You're going to die, Calina," Elric reminded her.

"Not if I kill her first!" she sputtered once more.

Before Elric could say anything, Calina sprinted off into the woods. Her body disappeared from sight entirely as she slipped between a few trees. 

"Calina, wait!" Elric held out his hand uselessly. He was under no obligation to help her out, after all, why would he? However, something inside of Elric changed. If his fighting spirit was a weak flame, then Calina's resolve to die while fighting was a splash of oil onto that very same fire. 

Elric sighed and followed after Calina, darting deeper into the woods.

-

It didn't take too long for Yori to finish her business. The only problem was finding a suitable location to do so. Yori was always extremely private about having to go to the bathroom, so she walked far away from the camp to ensure total isolation.

Calina loved to sneak up on people, Yori remembered. Even at totally inappropriate times! That kind of anxiety was killer for someone who had enough trouble outdoors as it was.

In the distance, Yori could hear shouting. She didn't recognize the first voice, but she swore Calina was shouting back at it. "What's going on...?" Yori asked herself.

The leaves and grass ruffled around her as she got onto her knees. As far as she knew, Elric and Calina were only about a few hundred meters away. She couldn't tell, though, thanks to the thick brush obscuring her sight. 

Yori stood up and began walking towards the campsite. Hopefully, it was nothing. But deep down, Yori was worried. Better safe than sorry.

-

Sweat streamed down Calina's face faster than a river. Low-hanging branches smacked her in the face as she raced deeper into the woods, chasing the source of the voice that taunted her. All she could see was red, not from her blood, but from her own fury. Like fuck was she going to die here, she thought!

All of Calina's self-preservation instincts went into overdrive. Adrenaline coursed through her body like an infection. She felt everything all at once, causing time to seem to slow to a crawl. 

It was scary, but at the same time, she wasn't scared. She knew she should've been terrified, but all she felt was a blind rage. It felt like everything in her life had gone up in flames. 

Screw it all, she thought! She swore to herself that she would never let anyone walk all over her. Not even in death. Even if she had to die, even if it was destiny, or fate, or some other bullshit, Calina was going to die fighting. 

She just wished it didn't take her so long to pull herself together. 

Meanwhile, Elric was steadily gaining on her, using his affinity to hop over logs and branches. He still wasn't sure why he was chasing Calina at all. It would be so easy just to abandon her and reach Catol, but that didn't tempt him away. Even if Elric hated Calina's guts, he didn't want to watch her die. At least, that's what he told himself. Deep down he knew that if he saved Calina again, she would owe him her life. 

Calina hopped over one more overturned log before stumbling into a small clearing. It was a circular, almost arena-like spot that was clear of any trees or branches. It was largely empty, except for one thing. Or rather, one person.

"Zeva!" Calina cried out, pointing her blades at the thief standing across from her. "Didn't Espio tell you to fuck off?!" 

Elric closed the distance between him and Calina. He hopped over the log and stood next to her, readying his metal pole. 

Zeva clapped slowly as if she were impressed Calina could even locate her. "He might've. I don't really care what he says, though. This is strictly business between you and me." Zeva craned her head, noticing Elric right behind her. "Oh, you brought a friend?"

Elric glared at Zeva. Her red, sleeveless jacket and black tank top seemed to be a deliberate choice to show off her upper body strength--something Elric lacked. These Simenti thieves were great at intimidating people through their fashion sense, he thought. If he and Calina wanted any chance of beating Zeva, they'd have to keep a safe distance. 

"I don't give a shit," Calina paused to cough, hacking up some more blood. "What he does. You're here for me, not him."

Zeva didn't move. "I told him to leave. That's his own fault if he ignored me." She spoke as she reached behind herself. In her hands was what looked to be the hilt of a sword. There was no blade attached to it at all, which only served to confuse Elric.

"Is that your weapon?" Elric asked.

Calina sprinted toward Zeva. She swung her blades violently as she closed the gap between her and Zeva, screaming a war cry as she did. Just before Calina's swords cut Zeva in half, Zeva's blade manifested out of thin air. A long katana blade seemed to appear, growing from the hilt to create a deadly, thirty-centimeter weapon. Zeva parried Calina's hit and kicked her away effortlessly. 

Calina was knocked backward and hit the ground harshly. She dug one blade into the grass and used it to help herself up, staggering to her feet. 

There was no way she could fight on her own, Elric thought. The way she moved around and swung her sword made her look more like a drunkard than an actual fighter. Her movements were slurred and exaggerated, her attacks telegraphed. 

Calina swung again, but Zeva parried it once more. Zeva barely even moved at all, to her this was like a rehearsal for a stage play. Once more, Zeva kicked Calina onto her back, watching her fly through the air.

Once again, Calina hit the floor. It seemed that this time Calina would be unable to get back up. She staggered and stumbled but was unable to stand on her feet anymore. Her wounds overwhelmed her and caused her to faint, her limp body collapsing to the ground.

"Enough!" Elric shouted. He charged at Zeva and stomped on the ground, launching an earthen disc out of the ground in front of him. The platform floated briefly, giving Elric a long enough window to hop off of it. He leaped up onto the disc and jumped off of it, soaring through the air almost like a bird. With his metal rod in both hands, Elric swung downwards, intending to strike Zeva in the head. 

Zeva watched Elric perform his little acrobatic stunt. With her katana blade overhead, she sliced horizontally. The blade effortlessly cut through the metal rod, almost as if it were made of silk. The rod split in half widthwise, leaving Elric with two sharp halves. 

All the while, Zeva's blade continued slicing forward, quickly closing the distance between it and Elric's face. 

Time seemed to slow for Elric. He could see the deadly katana coming towards him, but everything felt only half as fast as it should have. This gave Elric enough time to enact his plan. Once the rod was split in half, Elric used each part of it to redirect the blade downward. He wrapped the rod around the katana and pushed towards the ground, causing it to just barely miss slicing him wide open. 

With the blade now safely out of his way, Elric could enact the final stage of his attack. He was still falling directly on top of Zeva and wanted to capitalize on his downward momentum heavily. With both halves of the rod, Elric shoved downwards, jamming both of them into Zeva's shoulders. The rods pierced her skin, digging inside and lodging themselves inside. 

Zeva screamed. She wailed out a loud cry of intense pain as she winced, biting her lip so hard she drew blood. Once the rods were stuck, Elric kicked off of them and leaped past Zeva, shoving them deeper into her shoulders. 

Elric landed on his feet just behind Zeva, dusting himself off after he stood up. He had to admit, he thought that plan was well executed. Not a single scratch on his body? It felt fantastic. He turned around and saw Zeva glaring at him. She was no longer screaming in agony. Instead, she smirked. 

"Your shoulders are immobilized. You can't lift your arms enough to hurt anyone now," Elric pointed. 

Zeva's arms rested at her side. In her left hand was her blade--or rather, what was her blade. All that remained was her hilt once more. She was silent.

"I think I've worked out what your affinity is, Zeva. It's water based, isn't it? Your whole plan revolved around waiting for us to succumb to thirst, so you waited at the closest source of clean water to Catol, knowing full well we'd have to stop. It's quite clever, actually. There would be no way for icicles to form inside the stomach without the acid dissolving them first. You must have some sort of water-based affinity that can freeze water even under extreme conditions."

Zeva was silent still. 

"Your sword is fascinating, too. To think you'd have a retractable blade... I thought they only made knives like that, not actual swords. I think I'll be taking it away from you, now." Elric walked forward, readying his hand. He was still cautious, knowing full well Zeva could be hiding a final trick up her sleeve. 

Zeva snorted. "Not bad! If I could clap, I would!"

Elric walked forward, more cautious than ever. He was within her striking range, so if she wanted to surprise him, he would have to react quickly. "Now hand over the hilt."

Zeva's shoulders tensed up. The rods looked as though they had been shoved quite deeply into her shoulders. There should be no way she would be able to swing her arms after that. 

And then the rods began rising out of her shoulder. They squeaked and groaned as they slid upwards. They moved so slowly that Elric didn't notice anything was happening at all.

Until it was too late.

Zeva's blade-wielding arm had been freed just enough for her to make one last swing. The blade reappeared once more, nearly stabbing Elric in the leg as a result. Before he could react, however, she had already made her move.

Zeva swung her blade upwards, slicing up Elric's face. The blade left a red-marked trail of blood up from his cheek, through his eye, and into his forehead. She grinned sickly as her blade blinded her foe, a cackle escaping her throat. She seemed to feed on the pain and suffering she inflicted.

Elric screamed in agony. He staggered backward and fell down, clutching his right eye and grasping his cheek. His legs swung through the air violently, kicking at nothing. His wound stung worse than any pain he could have ever imagined--it felt like getting salt and citrus juice in an open cut, multiplied by a thousand in intensity. Even in his state of shock, Elric knew he needed to get away. He stomped on the forest floor as hard as he could, causing an earthen platform to form underneath him. He leaned backward, causing him to launch further away from Zeva. 

Elric's body flew a dozen meters backward, sliding along the grass until he came to a complete stop. As he slid, his head slammed across several small rocks, bruising his scalp. He bit his lip just to stop the screams, but even that wasn't enough to contain them. Blood soaked his hands and stained his fur.

This isn't happening, he thought. Everything was fine, he thought. 

Elric pulled his hands away from his face. His palms remained coated in a sickly crimson. That wasn't his main concern, however. 

His main concern was not being able to see out of his right eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Insert your favorite eye-loss joke here. I'm sure you've got at least one. 
> 
> Just like how Elric has at least one eye now.


	23. Torn Apart, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, more is torn apart.

Yori raced through the brush only to discover an empty lakeside. Elric's duffel bag had been carelessly abandoned by an overturned log, illustrating one of two possibilities: either Elric was forgetful, or something was horribly wrong.

Near the water's edge was a small puddle of vomit, blood, and icicles. A highly unusual combination, but still worrying nonetheless. Something was definitely wrong, Yori thought. Where did they go? 

Not too far from the blood splatter were footprints. Yori could tell because Calina must have stepped in her own blood before fleeing. She assumed Elric followed close behind, but she wasn't completely certain. 

With her rifle in tow, Yori began following the footprints. Tracking had been a skill Yori was lacking in. Despite what a lot of books would say, tracking was a lot more involved than just following footprints. As such, Yori slowed down to observe the trail more carefully, making sure she wasn't going off course and getting lost as a result.

She just hoped she would find out what was going on. 

-

Elric writhed on the ground, wiggling like an agitated worm. Everything he knew was falling apart faster than he could process. He didn't even have the benefit of adrenaline kicking in and slowing down his perception of time. Instead, things seemed to be going even faster than they should have been. 

The metal rods lodged in Zeva's shoulders popped out like bullets. They shot into the air and landed a few meters behind her with a soft clang and thud. Zeva outstretched her now-freed blade arm, blood flying off the katana as she did. His blood splattered against a nearby tree, staining it. "You weren't even close, Creaden. My affinity is not water-based." Zeva swung her sword around, causing the blade to disappear much like a switchblade. 

"What the..." Elric was amazed. How did the rods fly out of her shoulders like that? What the hell was she? Before he could entertain this line of thinking any further, Elric's eye throbbed in pain. He grabbed his eye with his hand--thinking it was the right thing to do, even if he wasn't sure. He managed to sit up straight, his back leaning against a nearby tree. 

From what he could see, Zeva was no more than a dozen or so meters away. Calina was to Zeva's left--his right--and more or less equidistant from him. Unfortunately, Calina was still unconscious. He could see her breathing, although just barely, her chest rising and falling rhythmically. 

"Oh, is she still unconscious? I know how to fix that." Zeva turned towards Calina and waved her hand over her body.

Blood stained Calina's lips and mouth. Needless to say, her gastrointestinal perforations were slowly killing her. At this rate, Calina would die before she regained consciousness. 

Or at least, she would've. Zeva's hands hovered over Calina's body, causing the blood to disappear from sight. Her hands traveled down from Calina's head to her abdomen with all the care of a trained surgeon. Once she was done, Zeva pulled her hands away.

Calina's pained breathing slowly regained its calm rhythm. Externally, Calina seemed fine. It was hard to tell from the inside if anything had changed, however.

"I repaired her," Zeva said aloud, making sure Elric could hear her. "My affinity is time. I can rewind objects--or people--to prior points in their personal timeline. Everything in life travels through time; I have the power to undo changes to specific objects or people at will. Injuries like these are trivial for me. All I have to do is will it so." 

Before Elric could speak up, Zeva's blade reappeared once more. The blade inverted as Zeva aimed for Calina's stomach. With no hesitation or remorse, Zeva stabbed Calina in the abdomen. "You're not dying until I'm done watching you suffer, Calina!" Zeva grinned.

The shock jolted Calina awake as she felt a blade pierce her skin. She let out a blood-curdling howl as she felt the blade scrape her innards. 

Zeva twisted the blade in her hand, watching Calina's pained expression wince every time she shifted her hand. "I can take your life away at any moment. I'll mortally wound you, only to bring you back from the dead, time and time again. There is no torture greater than undeath, is there?" 

Calina's vision was hazy and blurred as if she had been staring at a bathroom mirror just after a hot shower. Despite this, she could tell Zeva was enjoying this. "Is this cause I was Lacri's fave and you weren't?" Calina chuckled. It sounded pained and forced, not as cocky or arrogant as she had intended.

Zeva twisted the blade more in Calina's stomach, causing her to scream out again. "You don't deserve the air you breathe, you dirty little _bitch_!" Zeva twisted the blade some more. "You were always a coward!" She slid the blade upward before thrusting downward again. "You put all of us in danger for your own selfish cause!" 

Calina's vision was starting to come back to her. Staring back at her was the face of a murderer. Calina knew full well Zeva was serious--that much was obvious by now. But if there was one thing Zeva couldn't handle...

Calina grabbed the katana's blade with both hands. It sliced into her palms, causing them to bleed. Despite all the odds against her, Calina pulled herself upward, impaling herself further on the blade. She climbed higher and higher until she was halfway up the blade's length. 

Zeva stared in sick confusion. Does she even realize what she's doing? Adding to her own torture? What a stupid girl, Zeva thought.

"Lemme tell ya, girl." Calina sputtered. "This sword hurts way less than being called a coward. You don't know just how badly you're _fucked_." Calina tried to laugh, but all that came out was a pained groan.

Zeva snarled. "You're already dead."

"Elric!" Calina shouted. 

Zeva turned her head around, noticing Elric was not far behind her. He was still limping, one hand covering his eye. However, in his other hand was something far more dangerous than the metal rods he had before.

Elric tossed Calina one of her swords, the handle spinning across the ground until it reached Calina's side. 

Calina grabbed the hilt of her blade and swung blindly, stabbing it into Zeva's stomach. She screamed as she sliced through Zeva's abdomen like it wasn't even there--like her life depended on it. 

Because it did.

-

Yori could hear screams and groans not too far away from her. Her ears twitched with every sound she heard, helping her pinpoint their source. The dense brush made it extremely difficult to see where anything was, so her hearing was her best asset.

In a stroke of inspiration, Yori had the idea to climb a nearby tree. Getting an aerial view would help immensely. All she had to do was climb! 

In front of Yori was a large oak tree with some low-hanging branches. With her rifle slung around her back, Yori tested the branch's stability before hoisting herself upward. She climbed up the tree branch-by-branch until she reached as far up as she could go. 

There was a large branch that could easily support her weight--it was even long enough for her to be able to lay down on it. Yori thought this to be an excellent idea. If she got onto her stomach on the branch and scanned around with her rifle's scope, she could find Elric and Calina much faster.

With little hesitation, Yori lay flat on the branch and grabbed her rifle, leaning her eye into the scope. Her barrel darted from side to side, looking for any signs of life. 

In the distance, Yori saw a bush that looked as if it had been crushed. Perhaps that's where they went, she thought? Yori sat up a little bit and peered over the brush, her scope revealing to her a scene more gruesome than she could've ever imagined.

Elric was on the ground, clutching his eye with one hand, while an unknown woman began thrusting what looked to be a sword into Calina's body. The situation was far worse than Yori could ever have imagined. Her breathing staggered and hitched uncontrollably. Her hands shook with fearful anxiety. 

Was Calina dying?

-

Zeva screamed as the blade dug into her stomach. She looked down at the handle pressing up against her, then at Calina. "You bitch!" she cried out, kicking Calina away from her.

Calina slid down the blade and collapsed on the ground with a thud. Zeva's katana slid out of her body almost effortlessly, although it was clearly stained with blood. Panting and sweating overtook Calina as she stumbled away from Zeva, scrambling as far as she could from her. 

Zeva grabbed the sword lodged inside of her abdomen and gripped the handle. After a brief pause, she tore it out of her body with a loud scream. Blood splattered out of the newly exposed wound onto the grass below, coating it with a bright crimson. Zeva caught her breath, steadying her breathing and calming herself down. 

For someone who had just been impaled, Zeva looked quite tranquil, Elric thought. He had been on one knee behind Zeva after he threw the sword to Calina. Could Zeva even see him? Did she remember he was there at all?

Elric was familiar with Zeva's type. He recalled Yori coming to his side at night after Nunki made a particularly hurtful or aggressive comment to her. To him, Nunki and Zeva were one and the same. 

Grudge bearers.

"That was clever," Zeva admitted, rubbing her torn shirt with her hand. "It wasn't fatal, so you'll have to try again." As she spoke, her hand waved over her wound. Once again, the wound resealed, and all the blood seemed to disappear from thin air. Even the fabric repaired itself. 

"Yeah, fuck you too!" Calina shouted as she tried to lift herself up. Although her gastrointestinal perforations had healed, she was still carrying a rather large hole in her abdomen. It sure hurt more than anything, she thought. But she was stronger than a measly potentially-fatal injury. She was a badass. Zeva wasn't.

Zeva couldn't help but chuckle. It was like watching a little kid try and sound like an adult. To Zeva, that's all Calina was. A child. Worthless. Without autonomy. "Interesting proposal. I think I'll decline."

Zeva still had one of Calina's blades. With a sick grin, Zeva tossed the sword overhead, lunging it towards Calina's chest. 

The blade sliced through the air towards Calina. There wasn't enough time to dodge, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try. Calina hunched over to the left, but pain shot through her body, coursing her veins like poison.

She couldn't move in time.

-

Yori didn't know what to do. The sight unfolding in front of her horrified her by the second. She couldn't hear a single word of what Zeva was saying, either. 

The barrel of Yori's rifled was pointed right at Zeva's chest. If Yori wanted, she could squeeze the trigger and end her life right now. It was that simple. 

In Yori's hands was the power to govern over life and death. She could take life away if she wanted to. It was all too... almighty for her. Once a life was taken, it could never be given back. 

But at the same time, Yori knew hesitation could be the worst choice of all. She needed to act quickly. 

Before she could even think of pulling the trigger, Yori watched Calina stumble away. After they talked briefly, Yori noticed Zeva had one of Calina's swords in hand. 

And then Zeva threw it at Calina. Yori watched it fly across her field of vision like the scariest game of 'catch' ever. Without hesitation, Yori tilted the barrel and pulled the trigger, firing a single round. 

-

Calina closed her eyes, accepting her imminent impalement. However, no sharp pain pierced her chest like she had expected. When she opened her eyes, she saw her sword on the ground next to her with a dented bullet next to it. "Yori?!" Calina cried out. 

Elric capitalized on the distraction. He picked up one of the metal rods on the ground and jumped on Zeva's back, wrapping his legs around her back. With both hands, Elric strangled Zeva with the pole. He yanked backward as hard as he could while piggybacking her. 

Zeva dropped her katana hilt in shock as her hands reached for the rod strangling her. Despite Elric's poor upper-body strength, he was able to keep it tight around her neck. 

However, Zeva had other ways to apply her brute strength. She leaned forward and flung Elric off of her back, causing him to land on the ground flat on his back. 

Elric lay on his back as he stared up at Zeva. With his one good eye, he could only see what was in front of him and to his left. Everything to his right was out of his sight. He noticed Zeva was staring back at him, her feet right above his head.

What he didn't notice was the sword in Zeva's offhand--her right hand. 

"You fought well, Creaden. Now return to the gods above and beg for their mercy." Zeva spoke with the holiness of a priest delivering a sermon. The blade in her hand inverted and pointed down at Elric's chest, ready to strike.

Zeva's hands lifted upwards, preparing for a fatal blow. Her hands shot downwards quickly but were stopped short suddenly after a loud bang.

Elric was staring death in the face--almost quite literally. The katana dangled above him precariously, only inches from tearing him apart. However, it hung in the air as still as a tree. He was too shocked to think about moving at all, but his feet still somehow managed to function despite his hesitation.

The ground around Elric warped and morphed into a large disc shape, launching Elric far away from Zeva once again. Had he activated his own affinity unconsciously?

Elric landed on the ground next to Calina, who had collapsed from exhaustion. He held out his hand and grabbed hers, helping each other lift off the ground and onto their feet. 

The two turned around towards Zeva, only to find a hunched over body lying on the ground. Her chest no longer rose and fell, her eyes no longer blinked, and her lips no longer spoke. Zeva was no more. 

It was over.

"Elriiiiic! Calinaaaaa!" Yori cried out in the distance. She had hopped down from the tree branch and made a mad dash towards her two companions, leaping and bounding over bushes and logs as she did. Once she entered the clearing, she sprinted towards Elric and Calina and hugged them tightly. 

Elric and Calina nearly collapsed from Yori's harsh tackle, but they reciprocated her affection. The three shared a gentle hug in silence. How they all wished to stay like this, as they were! 

But unfortunately, there was plenty left to do. 

"I'm... I'm sorry..." Yori sniffled. She looked at Elric's missing eye, then Calina's stab wound, then Zeva's motionless body. "I should've... I should've acted sooner. Had I known someone like her was around... Oh my gods, you two didn't deserve any of this... I didn't know... I didn't know..." Yori sniffled and broke into tears. She cried harder than she ever had before as her own tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably.

Elric didn't know what to say. Instead, he hugged Yori tighter. 

Calina, too, did not know what to say. All she did was groan in pain, despite her attempts to hide it. She covered her impalement wound with her hand to stem the blood flow, but she knew it wouldn't last. 

Elric and Yori realized this as well. Yori pulled away from Elric and looked at Calina once more. "Calina... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever doubted you, I'm..." she glanced at Zeva's body once more and hiccupped. "I'm a monster," Yori felt herself welling up once more.

Calina grabbed Yori's hands and held them together. "Fuck that. You're a hero, Yori. You saved our lives." 

"I... You're hurt, Elric's hurt, she's _dead_! By my hands!" Yori pulled her hands away from Calina's, staring at them as if they weren't hers at all. Like they belonged to somebody else.

"We all would've been dead if you didn't save our sorry asses!" Calina cried out, nearly choking.

All the while, Elric reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out gauze. It was hardly ideal, but he needed something immediately. He wrapped it around his eye, covering most of the right side of his face in the process. When he was done, a white, vertical line of gauze covered half of his face, making him look nearly unrecognizable. "Here, Calina. Let me wrap this around your stomach so you can walk with us to the closest hospital."

There was no way Calina would refuse that offer. She gladly lifted her shirt up enough to allow Elric to treat her wound, however rudimentary the solution may be. The gauze almost stung both sides of her wound--the entry and exit points of Zeva's blade. She gasped and shuddered, remembering she had a hole going straight through her body. It made her feel uneasy, but she swallowed her worries for now. 

Once Elric was done cleaning and dressing her wound, Calina retrieved her blades. One was still stained with Zeva's now-drying blood. She couldn't do anything about that now, so she sheathed them behind her back. It felt good having her swords back once more. It was comforting. 

Meanwhile, Yori couldn't stand to watch Elric and Calina bandage themselves up. She walked with heavy feet as she stood over Zeva's body. Her victim's body. Yori supposed she earned the title of Phantom Hawk now, more than ever. An unseen predator taking the life of its victims, shrouded in darkness until it was too late. Even if Yori was so far removed from the battle that Zeva didn't even see it coming, she still felt the raw brutality of taking another life as if she had been standing right there. 

"You deserve a proper burial," Yori muttered. She had no idea how she was going to bury her at all. There weren't any shovels lying around and no holes large enough to accomodate a body. 

The more she thought about it, the more she wondered why she felt so strongly about burying this thief at all. She tried to kill Elric and Calina--and likely would've. Their injuries were more than enough reason to justify self-defense, but... 

"Yori, we need to go. Come on." Elric's hand wrapped around Yori's. Without warning, he tugged Yori back towards their temporary campsite. 

Her feet dug into the ground, not wanting to leave Zeva's side just yet. "I..."

"We need medical treatment. Catol isn't far away. We have to go _now_ ," Elric insisted.

Yori shook her head, as if to clear it of all hesitation. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Before they could leave the clearing, Calina returned triumphantly, carrying the duffel bag of supplies. "Hey, let's get a move on. I'm feeling a _hole_ lotta pain," Calina chuckled before coughing. 

Elric offered to take the bag from her, slinging it over his shoulder. "Right. Catol's border is within our sights, now. If we hurry, we can make it in just about an hour. That should be enough time to reach a hospital, Calina."

"What're we waitin' for? Let's fuckin' go!" Calina pointed towards the edge of the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this were a video game, this would be the disc 1 final boss.


	24. The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, hope is restored.

Despite Elric's best efforts, Calina was still losing blood rapidly. The bandaged that ensnared Calina's abdomen could only do so much to stem the blood flow. Getting impaled by a katana was certainly not an easy problem to fix. 

If Calina had to rank the worst pain in her life, the inch-wide hole in her stomach would probably be in the top five, maybe. The first four would likely be variations of self-loathing she experienced while hobbling towards Catol.

Catol was tantalizingly close. The border was almost within spitting distance now, and Elric, Yori, and Calina couldn't be happier. Train tracks led towards a large station with armed guards standing on either side of the building. Around the station was a large town square--markets were visible now, as well as a crowd of Simenti people. The first sign of civilization since Elric and Yori left their hometown of Propietra all those months ago. 

Elric appreciated the sight he still had left. His right eye was bandaged, limiting his vision, but he was hopeful. Maybe if they reached the hospital soon enough, they could save his vision. It was not entirely out of the question! But at the same time, Elric knew how unlikely this would be. The realization hadn't fully sunk in yet.

All the while, Calina was happy to be alive and... well, just alive. She stared death in the eyes--literally--and walked out of it. Knowing she could die at any moment almost validated all of her worst anxieties. But somehow, she felt less scared than ever. How could she not feel on top of the world after surviving near-certain death? It reminded her of the heart-pumping heists she used to go on, scenes playing back in her mind escaping from people who wanted her head. The raw thrills were intoxicating.

The border drew even closer. They could almost see a physical line in the grass marking where Catol began and the neutral territory ended. It was so beautiful, Yori almost wanted to kiss it.

Yori was the only one of the three to escape the battle completely unscathed physically. That was a good thing, Yori thought. The fewer people in the hospital, the better. Her thought process was far more complex than appreciating all of the good things that happened recently. All she focused on were the bad things. One, Elric lost an eye, possibly blinded for life. Two, Calina nearly died and has a gaping hole in her abdomen. Three...

She killed a person. 

Needless to say, she felt like shit. There weren't any other words she'd use to describe it. The raw pain filled her head, strangled her neck, and pierced her stomach. She wasn't even anywhere _near_ Zeva but felt as if she had come face-to-face with her. Yes, Zeva was dangerous, but did it really have to end that way? Yori couldn't stop thinking about that.

Her face bore a pained frown. Tears begged to flow down her cheeks, yet she had none to shed. Her arm was wrapped around Calina's back, helping her hobble towards the border checkpoint into Catol. At this point, she wasn't sure if she was supporting Calina, or if Calina was supporting her. 

Elric insisted he could carry himself, as he always did. Yori could see now, more than ever, Elric was hiding away from her and Calina. If she wasn't already burdened by her own guilt, she would confront him about it. But for now, medical treatment came first.

A border patrol guard noticed the rag-tag group of misfits approaching the border. Staring in confusion, the guard motioned for another to come by and wait for Elric, Yori, and Calina to arrive.

Elric ran ahead towards the guards, greeting each of them. "I don't suppose you fine, Simenti gentlemen could show us to the nearest hospital, could you?"

"...What happened to you?" The first guard asked.

"Yeah, you look terrible. Are you and your Creaden friend bringing her in or something?" The second guard pointed at Calina.

"No, she's... a friend. She and I need medical attention immediately. Can we be escorted to the nearest hospital?" Elric asked calmly. 

The first guard kicked the second in the back, shoving him away. "He'll help you out."

"Why me?!" The second guard cried. "I always get stuck with escorting civvies!"

"'They're not civvies. Look, military uniforms," the first guard pointed. "Second, you owe me after the bar incident."

"Ugh, fine," the second guard complained. "Come with me." 

Yori and Calina were not far behind. Together, they staggered into Catol behind Elric, who was following the second guard. It was refreshing, finally being in Catol. After spending almost a week and a half in the wild, eating hunted food and living in tents, civilization was like paradise. Aside from the horrifying injuries and multiple deaths, things were looking pretty okay.

"You folks got lucky. They just finished building a hospital in Escolta a few months ago. Oh, yeah, uh, welcome to Escolta! It's pretty nice, huh?" The second guard explained. Unfortunately for him, nobody was particularly thrilled on the outside. He'd never seen such a miserable group before.

Elric, Yori, and Calina followed behind him wordlessly. Some grunts and complaints escaped their throats as they fought against the overbearing pain. 

After a particularly grueling walk, the guard led the group towards the local hospital. It wasn't particularly large, but it was definitely not small either. It was only two floors tall, but the building itself sprawled out and consumed the entire road. The bright, white exterior and a red cross on the front of the building made it clear this was the hospital they had been searching for. 

"Hey, so, uh, feel better, I think!" The second guard gave a pitiful thumbs up. After an awkward silence, he ran off back towards the border checkpoint.

Elric, Yori, and Calina stood in front of the hospital entrance silently. They had no words left to share. After all, what could be said? 

Calina nudged Yori forward. All the color drained from Calina's face, much like it had after she puked icicles. She had no snarky comment, no sassy joke, nothing. Yori almost thought Calina looked like a ghost.

The door to the hospital opened on its own. A nurse exploded from the entrance and shouted, "You guys look terrible. Come, quickly," he gestured inwards. 

The three of them approached the entrance. The nurse stepped aside and allowed everyone to enter before slapping temporary wristbands on everyone's wrists. "These are just to show you're patients."

"I'm not a patient," Yori explained. "I'm just helping these two in."

The nurse sighed. "Oh. Well, then. You can wait in the lobby while we treat your friends, okay?" As he spoke, he lifted Calina off of Yori's shoulder and onto his. 

"Absolutely not," Yori stomped on the ground. "I am a--"

"I'm sure you're a lot of things," the nurse began walking Calina away, "but stand outside, please. Thank you!" 

As the nurse spoke, another two nurses wheeled in two stretchers. The other nurses helped Elric and Calina onto their own respective stretcher and carried them away. 

"No!" Yori shouted as she reached her hand out. However, her friends disappeared down the hallways without a trace. Yori sank to her knees pitifully, a single tear finally rolling down her cheek. "I'm... I'm so sorry."

On the ground in front of her was Elric's duffel bag. He must've dropped it before being lifted onto the gurney, but Yori didn't notice. She picked it up and wrapped it over her shoulder before turning around and returning to the lobby. 

The lobby was a large, square room, decorated with white tiles and bright lights. It was almost painfully bright, especially compared to the darkest nights Yori lived in the woods. This was the first time Yori had ever been to a hospital and she already hated every second of it. The overly-sterile door handles, the painful lighting, the atmosphere...

Yori slumped in one of the many wooden chairs with the bag between her legs. With her elbows resting on her knees, Yori leaned forward and sank down, her hands loosely interlocked. She stared at the ground for what felt like hours. 

So much white. The tiles' outlines began fading until it all blurred into a single, solitary white. All Yori could see was the bright white below her, which looked and felt a lot like being buried in snow. It was cold, bright, it was the last thing Yori wanted. She missed the warmth of candlelight.

The white tiles that enveloped her sight morphed into a grassland, sprouting underneath her suddenly. She lifted her head up violently and saw trees sprouting from all around her, enshrouding her in a small forest. The chair she sat in disappeared, causing her to fall on the ground. She lay on her back briefly before climbing onto her feet, staring all around.

Behind her, sounds of metal clashing against metal rang in her ears. She spun around and saw Calina and Zeva fighting once more, their swords clinging and clanging violently. Grunts and wheezes escaped from Calina's lips while Zeva remained silent. Her movements were effortless--as if she were fighting against a punching bag. 

Calina attempted to stab Zeva in the stomach but was knocked aside. Yori watched Calina fall to the ground and writhe in pain while Zeva walked closer, twirling her katana playfully. Calina's arms covered her face as Zeva stabbed downward. 

Blood gushed from the wound like a volcano. Yori attempted to cover her eyes, but her hands suddenly turned transparent, forcing her to stare at the carnage unfolding in front of her. She could hear Calina's deathly wails of anguish and agony as the life was sucked from her body. 

Yori spun around quickly, turning her back on the gruesome scene unfolding in front of her only to find Zeva once again. This time, she was slicing through Elric's quarterstaff as he attempted to kick her away but tripped. Elric knelt down and attempted to get back up, but Zeva was too quick. She sliced downwards and stabbed Elric in the spine, her blade penetrating his entire torso. Elric coughed and sputtered, grabbing at the katana poking out of his chest as he collapsed on the ground. 

Yori turned around once more before running away. The forest seemed to draw on for eternity, though. The longer she ran, the more she seemed to go nowhere. Before she could stop, Zeva appeared in front of her suddenly. "You can't run forever," Zeva giggled as if she were telling a joke.

"Leave me alone!" Yori cried out. "I didn't want any of this to happen! Why can't you--"

"Why can't I _what_ , Yori? I would love to, believe me, but you _killed me_."

"I didn't want to! Please... Please, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." Yori collapsed to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

"Your friends and I are all _dead_." Zeva spat on the ground, her katana extended towards Yori's chest. "You sat and watched while everyone else protected you, just like always. You hesitated, and that will be your downfall."

"I didn't want anyone to die!" Yori screamed.

"This world is cruel, you know that! You need to be crueler than anyone else if you want to save the ones you love." Zeva explained, her katana's blade grazing Yori's chest. "You wanna play soldier? Then play the part and die like one."

Zeva pulled her katana back before thrusting forward. Before the blade made contact, Yori jolted awake in the hospital chair. She leaned back suddenly and violently, nearly hitting the back of her head against the wall behind her. In her confusion, she glanced all around the lobby. 

Yori blinked quickly, her heart pounding out of her chest. Sweat beaded down her forehead, causing her fur to glisten. As she wiped it away, she noticed a room off to the side. The distant sound of ringing and faint conversations drew her attention. 

A telephone.

"Maybe I can call General Nortia..." Yori mumbled to herself. She got up from the chair and picked up the bag. The distance to the phone only seemed to grow the more she walked. How would she begin the call? What would she even say? Does she mention Calina? 

Yori stood in front of the phone as she closed the door, isolating herself. Her hand reached out and grabbed the phone itself as she dialed the number to Sabine's military base near Propietra City. It felt like someone else was controlling her actions--like she wasn't doing it herself. Was it her soldier instincts kicking in? Was it just her common sense?

After a second, Yori realized Catolese phones weren't exactly built for Creaden people. Creaden had their ears at the top of their head while Simenti had theirs at the side. Yori grumbled and held the earpiece higher than normal. She figured she'd just yell into the receiver if she needed to.

A soldier's bored voice answered. "Thank you for calling the Sabinese Military Service, outer Propietra branch. How may I help you?"

"...Can I speak to Nortia?" Yori's voice barely squeezed out of her throat.

"General Nortia? Who is calling, exactly?" 

"Corporal... Corporal Bellevoir." At first, Yori forgot her own rank. Had it been that long since she needed to remember?

"Right away, ma'am." 

Yori could swear she heard the soldier on the other side saluting as he called out for General Nortia. After a long pause, Yori could hear a bellowing footstep approach the phone on the other end. 

"Ah, Corporal Bellevoir. It's so nice to hear from you," Nortia sighed in relief.

"Ma'am, I have some... bad news to report. PFC Elric and myself were stranded in the woods outside of Catol when we were attacked by more thieves from the Guild. Elric... lost his eye fighting off one of them. I'm at the hospital right now. I'm..." Yori sniffled.

"Inocencio's been injured? That's quite the shame," Nortia tsk-tsked.

"We don't know if he'll get the vision in his right eye back. I hope he does. I feel so awful about what happened, ma'am," Yori explained.

"Explain to me what happened to the thieves you two encountered. Did you arrest them?" 

"...No. We scared one off, but I shot the one that blinded Elric. She was too dangerous to take in, but..."

"Excellent work, Corporal Bellevoir. You understood the gravity of the situation and took swift action, I see. That's commendable." Nortia sounded impressed.

Yori hesitated before responding. "It was by my own carelessness that Elric was injured, ma'am. I left Elric alone when he was ambushed."

Nortia was silent at first. "We must all make sacrifices in the name of victory, Bellevoir. I cannot say I've been perfect all the time. One can't be perpetually prudent, but we can be better. Let this incident be a reminder that a soldier needs to be swift and decisive. Do you understand, Corporal Bellevoir?" 

Yori bit her lip, holding back a tear. "Yes, I do." 

"Is that all you have to report, Corporal Bellevoir? Where is Specialist Charlie?" 

"Ma'am--General Nortia--I'm afraid Specialist Charlie was caught in an explosion. While on the train to Catol, we were accosted by yet another thief who destroyed the coupling to the caboose we were in. We had to walk to Catol but... Charlie ran into the blast. I have their hood with me."

Nortia paused. "I see. So that explains why Charlie made contact by themself over a week ago." Nortia said.

"...Charlie what?" Yori was so surprised she forgot her manners.

Nortia chuckled. "You must severely underestimate my specialists, Bellevoir. They're far too crafty to be taken down so easily--Specialist Charlie especially. Do not worry, Charlie is alive and well."

"Ma'am, I had no idea. We all thought Charlie had died! We thought..." Yori stammered.

"That's quite enough, Corporal." Nortia hushed Yori.

"Yes, ma'am." 

"While I cannot say I'm... pleased by this turn of events, I can say you handled the situations you encountered quite professionally. Once Inocencio recovers, you two are to make contact with Charlie once more and resume the mission," Nortia's spoke with authority. 

"Ma'am, with all due respect, _how_?" Yori asked.

"I had intended to keep _some_ aspects of this mission confidential, Bellevoir. Are you in an isolated room?" 

"Yes, ma'am." Yori nodded, even though no one could see her.

"There will be a party in Esencia--Catol's capital--in a week from today. Charlie will be there. You and Inocencio must be there as well. Understood?"

"...A single party in the entire capital city? How are we supposed to know which party?" 

"You will know, Bellevoir. There will be only one party of worth at that time and location. You're an intelligent woman, Bellevoir. Act like it." Nortia's compliment sounded more like an order.

"...Yes, ma'am."

"If there's nothing else to report, then I will be on my way. Carry on with the mission, Bellevoir."

"Will do, ma'am!" Yori saluted, knowing full well Nortia couldn't see. 

Nortia hung up the phone, leaving Yori with a droning dial tone. After a brief pause, Yori hung up her phone as well, stepping out into the lobby once more. It was different, somehow. Did the lighting in the room change? It felt... brighter, somehow, but not oppressively so. Whatever it was, Yori was feeling happier. 

She returned to her seat with a sigh of relief. Apparently, an hour had already passed. It felt like no time at all to her, though. 

Almost as if by fate, a nurse entered the lobby. A small Simenti woman glanced all around the room until her eyes met Yori's. "Oh, you must be here for the Creaden, right?" she asked.

"You mean Elric? What about Calina?" Yori stood up and grabbed the bag, walking over to the nurse.

"Oh, you're here for both of them? Okay then..." The nurse grabbed a notepad and flipped to a page in the middle. "So your Creaden friend... Eric--"

"Elric," Yori corrected.

"...He's fine, but his right eye's no good anymore. Won't be seeing out of that anymore unless he gets extremely lucky. We disinfected the wound and accelerated the recovery of his injuries, so he should be able to leave tomorrow," the nurse explained.

"Accelerated his recovery?" Yori tilted her head.

The nurse shrugged. "Yeah, we got a doctor who can isolate a body part and accelerate its aging," the nurse explained, sounding bored as she did. "Helps wounds and injuries heal faster naturally. Injuries that take weeks to heal can take just a day here."

"So why is the hospital so empty, then? You have a miracle worker on hand!" Yori waved her arms in the air.

"Well, uh, 'cause all the patients leave as soon as they come. Nobody really waits anymore, so..."

"Wh-What about Calina, though?" Yori asked.

"Oh, she'll be fine, too. Just a little while longer due to the severity of her injuries. It was a miracle she could walk at all, to be honest. If she kept going, blood poisoning would've set in and she would've died not long after that. And that's assuming she didn't die of blood loss first or pass out from shock, or..."

Yori sighed harder than she ever sighed in her life. It felt as though all the air in her body escaped all at once. She deflated, but in a relaxed sort of way. Her shoulders released their tension and dropped, her teeth unclenched, and her hands stopped balling into fists. "So they're both okay? They'll be totally fine?" 

The nurse sighed. "That is what I said, yes. Aside from Elrod's right eye, they'll both make a total recovery."

"Can I see them?" Yori asked.

"No. Come back tomorrow at the start of visiting hours. We're open from nine o'clock until--"

"Nine? Great. I'll be back soon." As much as it disappointed Yori, she understood this was for the best. 

The nurse spun around and disappeared into a nearby room without a word, leaving Yori by herself once more.

Yori was so happy she could almost faint. Her vision went fuzzy for a second before she realized she might actually faint. Before it got any worse, she went to sit down at the nearest chair and held her head. The fewer people in the hospital, the better.

There was still plenty of work to be done, yes, but not all was lost. Not yet. Yori was hopeful for the future, for the first time in her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF ACT 2: THE WALK


	25. One More Time with Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Elric, Yori, and Calina recover.

The hospital room was hardly more than a couple of beds, some wooden tables, chairs, and a window. The three beds were arranged in a line, wooden tables dividing them until they reached the other side of the room. The mattresses were not very thick at all, but they were functional. Almost everything in the room was either white or grayish white. The only things that weren't white were the tables, the bedframes, and the potted plants. Sterility was something this hospital took very seriously, evidently. 

Elric lay on his back in the bed closest to the door, his right hand grasping at his bandaged eye. White gauze wrapped around his forehead and under his ears, keeping his eye nice and clean. He was changed out of his military uniform into a generic patient's garb, something loosely attached and free-flowing. 

When the doctor told him his eye would most likely never fully recover, he wasn't quite sure how to react. Even though he knew the gravity of the situation, it never really quite hit him as he had expected it would. In time, he knew he would grasp the implications of having only one eye. A part of him was missing, never to return. Perhaps that was the real scar, he thought.

Did he miss his eye? Of course. Did he regret trying to help Calina? He wasn't sure. Maybe he needed more time, he thought. A lot of things happened in a short amount of time and maybe he just needed to unpack it all. He may have been a combat medic, but psychology wasn't something he had covered. It seemed weird now that he thought about it: why did nobody tell him to study how being in combat affects one's emotional state? Did nobody anticipate this?

Maybe the gods did, he thought. If so, why did they let this happen? Did Elric and Calina deserve to be injured? Almost killed? Did Zeva deserve to die? The more he thought about it, the more alone he felt. Perhaps the gods didn't care. If he wanted to survive, he would have to rely on his own strength, not on any divine intervention. Now, more than ever, Elric realized this fact. The gods were not listening. 

When Elric awoke in the morning, he expected his eye to have fully healed. He reached for his eye and felt only soft, textured fabric instead. Underneath that was the beginning of his battle scar: a long, thin line stretching from the middle of his cheek to the bottom of his forehead. His fingers traced it from top to bottom in curiosity. This was his reality, now. 

While on the subject of scars, Elric looked to his left. Two beds down lay Calina, sound asleep. Like him, she had been changed into a patient's garb like his. Her chest rose and fell peacefully and rhythmically, as expected. He wondered what kind of scar she had. Would she lament hers as much as he did his own? Did she have any regrets? 

Calina stirred from her slumber, almost as if she could hear him thinking. Her eyes fluttered open and she attempted to sit up. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't do it. The pain in her stomach was too much to put any pressure on at the moment. Her head sank to her right and she could see Elric staring at her. "Morning, dude," she said, giving a pained wave.

"Good morning, Calina," Elric replied.

Calina's head sank into the pillow as she stared upward at the painfully white ceiling. "...I'm sorry. For everything." 

"You're apologizing to me?" Elric asked. "What for?"

"I shoulda dealt with Zeva myself. You got hurt 'cause I was a selfish bitch."

"Calina," Elric leaned over in his bed, closing the distance ever so slightly. "I'm a soldier. We protect and serve those who need help."

"...What?" she asked, surprised by his surprisingly warm answer. "I thought you were gonna agree with me, not, uh, whatever that was."

Elric leaned back on his bed and sighed. "Well, I _was_ planning to scold you. But I think you've been punished enough as it is. Plus, you fought valiantly against Zeva."

Calina was silent.

Elric continued, "I had a lot of time to reflect last night. I had gotten almost no sleep, so I tried to think more about your situation and where you come from. I believe we may share more in common than either of us thought initially."

After another pause, Calina tilted her head towards Elric again. "Like what? We're both in the hospital? Lost a lotta blood?"

"I grew up in a... broken home. I was happy for a while until my parents... died. I was at school one day and when my parents never arrived to pick me up, I grew more concerned. It wasn't until night had fallen that I had been confronted by adults claiming I had to stay with my aunt and uncle for a while." Elric stared at the ring on his finger as he spoke. "They refused to tell me why or where my parents had gone."

"Jeez..."

"I remembered you said you didn't really know your parents all that well either. I suppose we share that much in common if nothing else."

Calina was quiet.

"It became clear that my parents had died after I eavesdropped on a conversation. I heard my aunt and uncle speaking to some adults I didn't know. I had felt... lonely. They say the path to isolation starts with loss. I can hardly argue that statement at all. I never made friends or close relationships until..." he trailed off.

"Until what?"

"I met Yori. She saw past my cold demeanor and insisted we become friends. I had thought she just felt sorry for me, but she took a genuine interest in me as a person. All the while, I had assumed she was just trying to make fun of me, but over time I grew to trust her. She's wonderful, Calina."

Calina stirred in her bed a little bit, trying to find a comfortable angle to rest. Her healing wound made that more difficult than normal. "She saved our lives."

"And yet she still thinks she didn't do enough. I don't know how to convince her that she's worth everything to me. I could never ask for a closer friend than her."

"I owe her a lot too, y'know. Not to be kind of a dick, but she believed in me first. You had no reason to trust me--I know--but she kinda just... trusted me. I don't know why, though," she sighed.

Elric sat up in his bed, leaning against the backboard. "It's because she's a good person, better than I could hope to be."

Silence hung over the two of them briefly.

"I don't blame her for killing Zeva," he continued. "Even I know it was the right decision. I just have this... aversion to killing for any reason. You know, as silly as it sounds, I think it's because I lost my parents so early. I think it made me heavily resistant to killing. I only just made the connection now after all these years."

"That explains your staff, I guess." she would've shrugged if she could.

"Indeed. They don't call me Feat Feet for nothing, you know," he chuckled.

"I thought you were just compensating."

"Compensating for what?" he asked, confused.

It would've been so easy to roast Elric right then and there, but Calina would've taken no joy in it. "Never mind. It ain't even fun teasing you like that."

"Is this another... phallus joke?" 

"Phallus? Really, dude? Can't just say 'dick' or something?" Calina stifled a laugh.

"Absolutely not."

Despite her best efforts, Calina exploded with laughter, followed immediately by instant regret as her scar flared up in pain. She grabbed her stomach and groaned loudly, biting her lip as she did. "Fffffuck that hurts." 

The two shared a gentle laugh together. For a minute, they had forgotten they were even in the hospital at all. It was the most levity either had had in a long time, and they both greatly appreciated it.

They heard a knocking sound coming from the door to their room. It opened, revealing Yori standing in the doorway. She ran straight towards Elric and hugged him tight, a gentle tear streaming down her face as she did. "I missed you so much. I'm so glad you're alive."

Elric's hands were stuck out awkwardly as Yori hugged him. However, he slowly began closing them around Yori's back and returned the hug, rubbing her back as he did. "I missed you too, Yori. Thank you."

Yori let go of Elric and went towards Calina. Knowing she was more delicate, Yori leaned down and gave her a more gentle "hug" than Elric. "I'm sorry this happened, Calina--I really am. I'm glad you're alive, too. I don't know what I'd do if I lost either of you..."

"Hey, dude, come on. No need to be that sappy."

Yori let go of Calina and pulled up a wooden chair, sitting between their beds. "You're right. I've got some good news to share, so might as well get right into it." Yori said, getting comfortable in her seat. "I spoke with General Nortia yesterday. Apparently, Charlie made contact with her over a week ago after arriving in Catol. They're alive!"

Elric's eye widened. "They survived? That's... quite amazing. I had thought..."

"Daaamn dude, what a fuckin' badass!" Calina tried to shout but her voice came out hoarse.

"I know! I'm as surprised as you two are. We need to reach Esencia within the next week to rendezvous with Charlie again. Once you two heal up, we're heading out," Yori explained.

Elric stared at the ring on his finger once more. After everything that happened, seeing that familiar ring helped him keep his hopes up. It was about time for him to tell the full story, he thought. "I really have to thank Charlie for this ring. It was my mother's."

Yori tilted her head. "It was? How do you know?"

Calina spoke up before he could answer. "And why the _fuck_ did they have it?"

"Well, it has my mother's initials on the interior of the ring. As to how Charlie got a hold of it... I never actually had the chance to ask. I will do that as soon as we meet back up," he sighed.

The room was silent once again. Yori sat in her chair with her hands neatly folded in her lap as she watched Elric and Calina in their respective beds. It looked peaceful, despite the circumstances that led them all here. 

Elric broke the silence. "I shouldn't be so secretive with my emotions. After facing Zeva, I realize I wouldn't have been satisfied with my life had I died then. I wouldn't want to die without any regrets--and believe me, I would have had plenty."

"Same," Calina waved her hand in the air. "Being a scaredy cat sucks. I wanna live more in the moment. Hiding and being a coward all the time fucking blows."

"I'm just glad you two are getting along well." Yori held her hands to her chest. 

After an exhaustive sigh, Elric lifted himself out of the bed. Yori and Calina didn't expect him to be able to, even though his only injury was his eye. Something about the hospital setting made them think he was bedridden, but he was more than capable of autonomy. "I was quite... frustrated, with Calina, but I saw her give her all to fight Zeva. I think she would make a valuable asset to our search party, don't you agree, Yori?" 

Yori stood up to greet Elric. "If she wants to come with us, then she's more than welcome." 

Almost as if on cue, Calina tossed her blanket away. She grabbed at the bed frame and lifted herself slowly to her feet, grunting and grumbling in pain as she did. Yori offered to help her up, but Calina refused outright. "I'm standing up just fine on my own! I'm all good! I ain't done yet!" she shouted.

After an exaggerated process, Calina was finally on her feet. She hobbled over to Elric and Yori, hand clutching her stomach as she did. "I'd be really glad to come with you two." 

Yori sniffled and wrapped her arms around Elric and Calina's upper bodies, bringing them all together. Together, they shared a warm and soft group hug. The room almost fell silent, but Yori could hear each other's heartbeats and feel their breaths on her cheeks. The warmth of their bodies enshrouded them in a welcoming cocoon of mutual affection. 

Yori wanted nothing more than to cry. "No matter where we are, as long as you're both with me, I'm at home." 

"Gay," Calina added.

The other two couldn't help but laugh. They laughed so hard they almost broke the hug. Calina, however, remembered that laughing was a terrible idea, and immediately felt a burning pain in her stomach. The pain was too much for her, so she walked herself back over to her bed and laid down once more. 

Elric returned to his bed. It wasn't like he needed to, it was just comfier than any of the chairs in the room. "So we'll leave later tonight, correct?"

"Once you and Calina are discharged, yeah. The nurses say Calina will take a little bit longer, but we'll be good for today," Yori said.

"Hey, uh, by the way..." Calina interrupted, "don't feel bad about what you did to Zeva. She had it coming. If it weren't you, she'd have killed us, flat out."

Elric picked up where Calina left off. "I think what she is trying to say, with a touch more elegance, is that you saved our lives. Do not think of it as taking a life, but rather saving two. If you ever wish to talk about it--"

Yori sighed. "I'll be okay. I'll let you know if I need to talk, though. Thanks." 

"Alright," Elric picked himself back up and began walking towards the door. "I need to use the restroom. Please excuse me."

"You ain't excused! Get the fuck back here!" Calina shouted at him.

He glanced back at her, but just before he could give her a witty retort, he walked straight into the door. The side of his face smacked against the wooden frame as he stumbled back, slightly dazed. He mumbled something about depth perception and excused himself from the room.

"Hey, hey, hey." Calina picked herself back up from the bed, despite her pain. 

"Calina, no. You need to rest," Yori insisted.

"Nah, I'll be okay. I think I owe you something for all your help," Calina's voice was soft. 

"It's..." Yori trailed off, watching Calina approach her. 

Calina walked slowly until she was standing right in front of Yori. Closing the distance made Yori realize that Calina was a little bit shorter than her. It was almost adorable, actually. Her chin could lean against Calina's nose comfortably, especially if Calina angled her head down just a little bit. 

A hand found its way onto Yori's side, rubbing it gently. Another one joined on her other side, making her realize Calina was practically rubbing her hips. 

"I saw you eyeing me a while ago," Calina whispered. "You're pretty cute, too, I gotta say."

Yori's hands were extended awkwardly along the sides of her body. Where should they be? What should she be doing? Better yet, what was even happening? Was Calina... flirting?

"I think you deserve this," Calina leaned her lips upward and teased Yori's lips. Her breath brushed up against Yori's mouth like a gentle breeze. Then, before Yori could react, Calina kissed Yori. 

The two of them closed their eyes as they melted into one another, sharing each other's warmth. As quickly as the kiss had started, Calina pulled away and smirked. "I never kissed before, so I'm gonna just assume that's how you do it."

"I... Okay," Yori was a blushing mess. Her cheeks were tinted a rosy shade of pink more saturated than any flower. 

Calina blushed as well before staggering back to her bed, laying down again. "Think of that as a... more personal thank you." 

Yori rubbed her lips with her hand, feeling Calina's residual saliva on her palm. Only now did Yori appreciate Calina's warmth now that it was gone. "Uh..." she said, muffled by her hand.

Calina wondered if she had broken Yori. Was she that good at kissing? Or was Yori just that sensitive? 

Interrupting the awkward silence, the door to the hospital room opened suddenly. Elric walked in and shut the door behind him before helping himself back into the bed. "Depth perception is going to be a small issue, I believe."

"Bumped into more stuff on the way there?" Calina asked.

"Perhaps," Elric folded his arms. 

Yori was still standing awkwardly, even while Elric entered the room. It was like Calina put a spell on her, freezing her in place. 

Elric noticed this and looked at her, confused. "Are you okay?"

Her hand reached behind her and found her chair. Yori sat down without looking at Elric, instead staring straight ahead at the wall. "I'm... gayd. I mean I'm good! I'm really good! Gayt even! Fuck!" 

Elric squinted his eyes before laying down on his back. "I see..."

"Excuse me..." Yori stood up and helped herself out of the room, closing the door behind her as she left. She nearly bumped into a nurse as she exited the room, fumbling all the while.

Yori found herself staring at a wall. What kind of life decisions had she made to find herself almost literally watching paint dry? She felt her cheeks and noticed they were still warm.

"I am so, so, gay..." she mumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got a gay boner writing this and i hope you did too


	26. The Tunnel's End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Shanalotte discovers workers' compensation.

Caves often reeked of pungent odors, including but not limited to abrasive stone, sand, metal, and worst of all, sweat. Mines were often claustrophobic in size, so smells could permeate for and hang in the air for longer than on the surface. Combined with the lack of natural lighting, one has a case for avoiding mining as a full-time career. However, many did not have that choice. 

Shanalotte swung a pickaxe into a nearby wall. Performing the same action all day every day was a recipe for awful cramps, strains, and more, among other things. Clouds of dust were the worst offenders as inhalation of silica dust could cause awful side effects to one's health. As such, Shanalotte wore a tight mask that covered their nose and mouth, filtering out harmful debris. 

It was not regulation to mandate all miners wear these masks, only those who cared enough and could afford them did so. Shanalotte thought it insulting that they weren't provided these masks. They remembered their father, Finn, being hospitalized briefly for an obstruction in the lung. 

Shanalotte vowed not to fall ill like their father. They would wear the mask, even if it made breathing more difficult. Obtaining the masks was extremely difficult, as some 'savvy' businessmen had decided to inflate the prices artificially, forcing miners to pay up or suffer. Either workers would feel emotional pain from being exploited or physical pain from silica dust.

It wasn't fair. Shanalotte's burning rage fueled their swings, striking into the wall constantly and continuously. On good days, it felt like stress relief--if stress relief lasted at least twelve hours a day, every day. On bad days, it felt like a Sisyphean effort.

Next to Shanalotte on either side were their fellow workers. Every day, miners would storm into the caves and dig, day in and day out, gathering as many precious metals as possible. 

"Maybe this week I'll be on top of the leaderboard, eh?" the worker next to Shanalotte shouted.

"You can't mine for shit!" the worker on Shanalotte's other side shouted back.

The first worker laughed. "Hey, I used to be top of the board constantly!"

"Yeah, yeah. Then you started to get old. Move aside, old man, the new generation's gonna show you how it's really done."

"I'm only thirty, you twenty-something brat!"

Shanalotte grumbled, their voice lost in the repetitive droning sound of pickaxes slamming into stone and rubble. A constant banging and bashing haunted Shanalotte's dreams most nights, bringing work's stresses to home. "Stupid. Fucking. Mining. Bullshit," they said with each swing of their pickaxe.

"Well, hey! Looks like little Shanny here's grumbling up a storm again! What's the matter this time, can't write your novel?" a voice bellowed from behind Shanalotte.

Shanalotte stopped swinging and turned around, digging their pick into the ground. They leaned against the bottom end of it as they watched a guard officer approach. They could tell because all guards had this smug sense of superiority about them. 

"Better keep swinging or I'll have to do it for you," the guard leaned in close to Shanalotte, her breath steaming against their cheeks. "And I don't mean the wall."

"Yes, ma'am," they sighed as they spun around. Their pick dug into the wall once more, bashing through a particularly difficult layer of rock. 

The guard, not satisfied with Shanalotte's work ethic, decided to go a little bit further. There were baskets behind each worker, filled with gems they had collected through the day. Shanalotte's had been filled about halfway up, which was a little bit more than the workers around them had. The guard tapped Shanalotte on the shoulder with her baton, drawing their attention to the basket.

"Here, this'll bump your productivity real good!" the guard said as they grabbed Shanalotte's basket, dumping its contents into the other workers' baskets. Once Shanalotte's was empty, the guard placed it back and walked away, twirling her baton all the while. 

The other workers shared a wide grin, beaming with excitement. They practically hugged and began dancing on the spot in front of Shanalotte, too excited to notice their day's work had been lost in an instant.

Shanalotte stared blankly. That didn't just happen, did it? Their entire day's worth of progress wasn't just... 

"Sorry Shan, but we gotta top the leaderboard today. Don't wanna get another pay cut!" the first worker beamed. 

Shanalotte said nothing and spun around to face the wall in front of them. It was a monument to their failure at work, as a person, and in life overall. It mocked them The wall was unfeeling, uncaring, why would it be? Why did _Shanalotte_ have to be the one to feel, to care, to work so hard? 

Their grip tightened around the pickaxe as they swung it violently into the wall in front of them. The wall crumbled and fell to pieces one by one, dropping dozens of raw gems to the floor in front of them. 

But they weren't done yet. 

Shanalotte continued their onslaught, swinging and slamming their pick deeper and deeper into the wall. They grunted and cried with each swing, each strike taking more energy and more rage. With every chunk of wall downed, there was always more behind it. It never ended. 

Before long, they grew exhausted. Their arms felt like limp noodles, too gentle and weak to lift anything heavier than a box of feathers. They panted and wheezed strained breaths before breaking out into a small cough. Their rampage had ended here, leaving only a large collection of raw gems still half embedded in rock on the floor. 

And then Shanalotte remembered this was their three-year anniversary of working in the mines. All at once, like a flame sprayed with oil, their rage reignited. Their hands clutched the pick ax tighter and gave three final swings into the wall as hard as they could. "One swing for each year of misery in this miserable pit from hell..." they muttered after they were done. 

The pickaxe fell from their hands onto the ground below. They bent over and picked up the remnants of their rampage, dusting them off and chipping away the debris before filling their basket up with the valuable remains. It was nowhere near the amount they had before, but it was a start. And hey, they only had another six hours to do this. 

That was more than enough time to bludgeon myself with the blunt side of the pickaxe, Shanalotte thought.

-

The happiest time of day was quitting time. Not because it was the end of the hard work day, but because it was the longest amount of time until the next workday. Every minute that passed after the day ended meant the next day drew nearer. How was anyone supposed to relax when they knew they had to do it all again the next day? 

Shanalotte hated everything about mining. It wasn't even the labor itself that was bad, or the health risks, or the awful management, even though those were all great reasons to feel strongly about it. No, Shanalotte was more upset about one thing in particular.

Writing. It used to be their passion, their hobby. Now it was nothing more than a pipe dream. Who had the time for hobbies when more than half of your day is working and the other half is recovering? Maybe if slept less to make time for hobbies, it could be possible, but then exhaustion would kick in much sooner during the day.

The bottom line, Shanalotte thought, was that writing was no longer an option. This hurt more than any amount of physical labor. All those hours spent reading novels, absorbing pages of notes on mysteries and unsolved crimes, gone with the wind. 

A sudden weight fell over their shoulders. It felt like they were giving a piggyback to an entire town of stuck-up, snobby guards and managers. After all, wasn't it Shanalotte's job to do all the hard work while everyone else benefitted? 

Before they could get lost in another painful daydream, Shanalotte heard a nearby bush rustling. Their ears twitched and twisted, attempting to pinpoint the source. Craning their head, they heard another rustling bush in the distance, traveling away from them. 

The path in front of them was nonexistent. Only a dense forest lay ahead with no visible path leading in or out. At the back of their mind, Shanalotte knew this was likely just a wild animal dashing around the forest floor looking for a quick night feast, but...

But what if it wasn't?

Unable to resist the mystery, Shanalotte stepped over the bush and into the dense shrubbery behind it. Bushes, brush, and branches battered the bottom of the forest basin. It was a lot worse than it seemed at first glance, but this wouldn't stop their curiosity for a second. 

Low hanging branches threatened to scar their face with pointed tips, but even in the darkness, Shanalotte slipped through the dense woods with relative ease. They recalled spending hours of their youth playing hide-and-seek in the woods with some friends. Where did those friends go, they wondered? 

As was routine, Shanalotte was distracted from their thoughts once more. This time, a dim light in the distance caught their eye. They were drawn towards this light, much like a moth to a flame. What was that light anyway? It was so enticing, so warm, so welcoming. 

Dense forest shrubs gave way to a sudden clearing. It almost caused Shanalotte to trip, expecting there to be more bushes only for there to be just grass and nothing more. 

The clearing looked to be quite serene and undisturbed. The grass was left to grow freely and wildly, along with flowers and weeds. A gentle, summer's night breeze danced between the trees, causing the greenery around them to shake and sway gently. It was quite peaceful, all things considered. 

But where was that source of light? Somehow it disappeared from sight without them noticing. Was it a firefly or something? Did they just imagine it? Maybe they were more tired than they thought if they were starting to hallucinate sights and sounds.

Then, as if on cue, bushes ruffled in front of Shanalotte. It sounded like something a lot bigger than a squirrel squeaking around, or at least, that's what they thought. Just to be on the safe side, Shanalotte dived into a nearby bush. They fell down and curled up into a ball to cover their entire body, hoping whoever--or whatever-- wouldn't notice them. 

It was difficult to see through all the leaves, especially at night, but they could see vague shapes. After a long, drawn-out silence, footsteps emerged from Shanalotte's left and right. Oh gods, how many people were here? Shanalotte thought, at best, there would be one person. But this? What did they stumble into?

They could see two Creaden standing in the center of the clearing. They could tell because of their ears. Aside from that, all features were obscured in the night. 

"May the Light of Truth..." a female voice said.

"...Guide your way," the male voice replied. "Honey, do we really need to meet like this? We're _married._ You know I'm reliable.

"It's a good habit, Ricard. And yes, I love you too, but it couldn't hurt, could it?"

Oh, my gods. Oh, my gods. Oh, my gods!! The Light of Truth! This was just like the note from before, Shanalotte thought. This was so unreal, so unexpected, so... Oh, gods. They _knew_ something was going on! They wanted nothing more than to scream out right now about how awesome this was, but that would ruin everything. 

However, a gasp escaped Shanalotte's throat. In their attempt to silence themself, they accidentally smacked a branch, causing it to snap off. The sound drew the two Creadens' attention right towards Shanalotte's bush.

"We've been compromised!" Ricard shouted.

The woman, however, said nothing. Instead, she approached the bush and parted the leaves, revealing Shanalotte hiding among them. "Who are you?"

Shanalotte got a closer look at the woman staring down at them. "I'm, uh..."

The woman grabbed Shanalotte by the shoulders, picking them out of the bush. She examined their body closely, noticing scuff marks and hints of dust on their person. "You're a miner, aren't you?"

Shanalotte nodded. "And you're Light of Truth? Oh, gods... This is crazy."

The woman released Shanalotte and motioned for Ricard to come closer. "We're fine. I think they're just a curious kid."

"I'm not a kid, I'm twenty-one," they protested.

The woman sighed. "What I wouldn't give to be twenty-one again..."

"How old are you, anyway?" Ricard asked.

"In what world would it ever be acceptable to ask your wife how old she is?" she pouted.

"Mmh, I think you're..." Ricard scratched his chin. "Thirty-five. Am I right, sweetie?"

Shanalotte got a closer look at the two Creaden before them. The first one was an older woman with beautiful brown hair and light yellow fur. She dressed in a small cape that attached at the shoulder with a red jewel. Shanalotte thought it was beautiful. On the other hand was the man standing before the woman. He was quite a bit taller than the woman was, with darker brown hair, almost black, and clothes stained and dusted with dirt and grime. 

It was quite the unusual pair, Shanalotte thought. They didn't even look like they belonged in the same class, yet they were married? She looked so much more well-off than he was. There were so many other questions they could ask, too. What is the Light of Truth? Why are they so secretive? Where did that light go? What are they meeting for? Why are they meeting at all? 

"Uhh, um, so, uh..." Shanalotte rubbed the back of their head awkwardly while the two other Creaden stared. "What is the Light of Truth?"

The woman rested her hand on Shanalotte's shoulder. Her other hand reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. When she rubbed her finger along the surface, sparks flew out from it and created a small, lingering flame. "You could say it's a literal piece of flame paper. These are used to guide people through dark areas at night, kind of like how I found Ricard over here."

Ricard piped up. "Actually, it was just the mental link we have since we've known each other for, what, ten years now?"

Shanlotte chuckled. "Okay, but what is it _metaphorically_?" they asked, completely unsatisfied with this answer. Although it was kind of cool, actually...

"Can we just tell them?" Ricard asked.

"You trust me, and I'm not even a miner. I think we can trust them," the woman turned back to face Shanalotte. "This flame paper represents our ideals. The truth is like a flame: the more one tries to obscure it, the more it yearns to be free. Even if one cannot unravel the mysteries surrounding the truth itself, the flames of that truth will eventually burn through the deceit. We, the Light of Truth, believe that there is a secret being kept hidden from the people of Sabine."

"And what's that?" Shanalotte asked.

"We believe the people of Sabine are being wronged. People like you, working outrageous hours with little pay or safety checks. We want to make this issue known to the world that this cannot continue."

Shanalotte's eyes twinkled. "Okay, so, what's with all the secrecy? I saw one of you guys leave a note like, three years ago. How come nothing's happened yet?"

The woman sighed. "We are slow to act, unfortunately. Our goal is to gather enough support from the miners so that we can create a union of workers. Think about it, a collective of like-minded individuals who could force employers to create a safer work environment. I'm sure you know someone, or many people, who suffer while mining, hm?"

Shanalotte paused. "Yeah..." they sighed, remembering their father. 

"This is not an unreasonable goal, is it? I should think not. A country should serve its people, not the other way around. I find it quite unfortunate that this has been an issue for so long," the woman said.

"You know, that's how we met, actually. I was so mad after a long day at work I went to the pub. Along the way-- " Ricard was cut off.

"Don't just tell them how we met! I thought we agreed to tell people we met at the library?" the woman sighed. "In any case, we have had to change up our tactics as of late. All attempts at being peaceful have been met with strong resistance. It seems every day that opposition to the Light of Truth grows only stronger."

"Why is that?" Shanalotte asked.

"We're pretty sure that, as Sabine grows, so, too, must our gemstone export. Demands have never been higher and only continue to rise. As such, we need more to export to keep up with demand," the woman explained.

"Even though it's really dangerous and..."

The woman nodded. "I think if you knew about us for so long and said nothing about it this whole time... Perhaps you would make a great addition to our group. What do you think, Ricard?"

Ricard shrugged. "I think they've got potential. I mean, they came this far, so yeah. Sure." 

"What do you say?" the woman asked.

Shanalotte stared, eyes widened. "Bwuh? I mean, uh, what? Really? Why?"

"I can tell you've got a strong sense of justice inside of you. You're a miner, just like Ricard. You've experienced hardships that no one should ever have to. I can tell you want to make a difference in the world, even if the odds are stacked against you. Am I mistaken?" the woman asked.

"Um..." Shanalotte paused. "I'm not really sure. What would I even do as a member?" 

The woman grabbed a small set of flame paper from her pocket and handed it over to Shanalotte. "Recruit more of your type. We need all the help we can get if we want any chance to change Sabine for the better."

Shanalotte took the papers and stared at them. "What are these for?"

"Arranging meetings. Everyone in the Light of Truth knows what these are, so light one at night obscure it without covering it completely. Should you need to meet with another member, this is how to do it discretely."

Shanalotte pocketed the paper. "So how do I recruit people? Just say, 'Hey, mining sucks, right? Join the club!'"

The woman patted them on the shoulders. "You're clever enough to find us, I think you'll have no problem working out a good way to go about that."

Ricard piped up. "Hey, I think we should probably continue? You know, with what we were _supposed_ to do?"

The woman turned around and approached Ricard. "Yes, yes, I'm coming," she turned back towards Shanalotte. "Thank you... Oh, I never asked your name, did I?"

"My name is Shanalotte, what's yours?"

"Aurora."

"That's a pretty name," Shanalotte said.

"So is yours. If I had another child, perhaps I would've named them after you. In any case, goodbye, Shanalotte. May the Light of Truth guide your way."

Shanalotte watched silently as Aurora and Ricard walked away from them, disappearing into the forest. After the rustling of disturbed branches and bushes stopped, Shanalotte realized they were all alone once more. 

The sounds of the forest soon took over. The gentle whistle of the wind, the chirping of crickets, the rustling of leaves, it was serene once more. In their hands was a small set of flame paper, a tool symbolizing their involvement in a shadowy organization. Actually, maybe 'shadowy' was the wrong word to use. 'Lighty' didn't make any sense, but it was more accurate. 

No matter the case, Shanalotte was alone once more. They pocketed the flame paper and sighed. "Oh, my gods. I'm a rebel."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Endless days of complaint  
> Forcing the light to our veins  
> Keeping the hope in our minds  
> One day life will be kind
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vpsn1PurGA


	27. Summer in the City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, people get carried away.

It had been a couple of days since Elric and Calina were dismissed from the hospital. With the power of modern medicine, Calina and Elric made recoveries that otherwise wouldn't have been possible without affinities. Of course, they didn't quite make full recoveries. 

Elric would always be blind in his right eye; that much couldn't be avoided. What could be avoided, however, was a horrible infection that could've killed him if left untreated. As a sort of consolation prize, he was fitted with a black cloth eyepatch with golden string laced around the outside. The band wrapped around his left ear to hold it in place, although he hid the band underneath his hair. 

Calina would always have scars on her stomach and back. The doctors said it was amazing how she didn't die from blood loss once the sword was removed from her body. Calina chalked it up to her 'badass-awesome survival skills', whatever that meant. The scar was hauntingly large, more or less two inches in length with stitch marks tying the split skin together. The surgeon's time acceleration affinity managed to get the wound from 'open' to 'mostly healed' in just a few hours, as opposed to weeks. How lucky!

As for Yori, she didn't need any stitches or eyepatches. She dumped her unloaded rifle into Elric's bottomless duffel bag and sealed it away indefinitely. She broke her morning ritual of stretching and hugging her rifle, which befuddled Calina but made perfect sense to Elric. 

Yori didn't take joy in rifle upkeep anymore. She didn't find it fun to polish the barrel, or to hear the satisfying clicks and clacks of the bolt pulling back, or to stare through the magnifying scope downrange. The once pleasant sensation of wood and steel were replaced with nauseous anxiety. She could feel her fur standing on end from just looking at her once beloved possession, let alone holding it in her own bloodied hands.

The less she thought or talked about it, the better. 

The day was still young and there was still plenty of ground to cover. Right now, all three of them had been trudging along a paved road that led straight to Esencia. It was convenient, how Catol's paved roads were so neatly organized and well maintained. Yori lamented how the roads leading into and out of Propietra City were hardly maintained at all. If city roads were that bad, how much worse were the country roads? Was Sabine so cheap they refused to pave roads just to save a quick buck? It made her wonder what else Turan signed away in order to cut costs.

The seemingly monstrous drew ever nearer. If they continued walking, they would be there within an hour. Buildings sprouted from the horizon, many of them made from white or gray stone and intricately designed. Golden arches and banisters adorned each building, giving the city a more regal vibe than Elric and Yori were expecting.

Propietra paled in comparison to Esencia, in every way except one. Propietra's buildings were far more colorful than the, well, pale buildings Esencia boasted. Yori couldn't decide if she hated it or loved it. There was something beautiful about uniformity, she thought. She glanced down at her own uniform, then ran a hand through her dyed streak of hair. 

Yori then thought about Charlie. It was pretty clear what they preferred--chaos, disarray, the unusual. Nothing about them struck Yori as ordinary, and that excited her. But with excitement came chaos, and chaos could lead to... well, anything. What was so special about this party, anyway? And how were they supposed to find a single party in a capital city? There must be hundreds of parties every day! 

Almost by chance, Yori's keen eye spotted a flyer haphazardly stuck to a nearby tree. She walked closer to it and ripped it from the bark, examining it closely. 

170th ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF ESENCIA

OPEN INVITATION -- ALL ARE WELCOME!

Join us today from 9:00 AM-9:00 PM for our  
170th annual Esencia Festival!  
Food* - Drinks** - Games***  
Fun for the whole family!

*Food is not free  
**Neither are drinks  
***Games are definitely not free, either

"What's with all the little stars at the bottom there?" Calina snatched the paper out of Yori's hands. 

"Perhaps people assumed the festival was a free event?" Elric chimed in.

Calina pinned the flyer back to the tree. "Hey, we could probably go, couldn't we? It's on the way!" She grabbed Yori's hands and brought them to her chest. "Whaddaya say? It'd be fun, right? Plus, we got time!"

Yori sighed and rolled her eyes. "We should really be looking for Charlie before we relax. We're on a mission, remember?"

A couple of people walked past the trio, nearly brushing shoulders with them. Elric realized they were taking up most of the space on the road, so he pushed Yori and Calina towards one side. As he did, he saw something strange out of the corner of his eye. 

There was a man who had suspiciously kept pace with them for a while now. Elric once thought nothing of it, but now he grew more concerned. The man had stopped just as they did. Was he following them? Before Elric could entertain the thought any further, the man resumed walking. He passed by the group and disappeared into the distance. 

It still made Elric uneasy. "I think a festival would be fantastic, actually. We could use the levity." 

"Really?" Yori asked. "I mean, I'd feel better if we found Charlie first." 

Calina wrapped her arms around Elric's and Yori's neck, drawing them close to her. "Aw, don't be so dramatic! We'll search better if we're not feeling so shitty, y'know?" Calina boasted.

Yori stared at her with a confused head tilt.

"I think what Calina means," Elric's voice crescendoed, "is boosting our morale will make us more efficient in the long term." 

"Yeah!" Calina tightened her grip. 

"Can you let go of me? I'm having difficulty breathing," Elric pried his fingers under Calina's arms, trying to free himself. 

"Oh, whoops." Calina let go of the two of them, letting Elric catch his breath. Yori rubbed her arm awkwardly and huffed. "Okay, fine. One hour, but no more. Got it?." 

"Yay!" Calina shouted. She grabbed Elric and Yori by the wrists and dragged them towards the festival on the horizon. 

A sea of white tents and balloons overflowed into the streets of Esencia. At first, it seemed a strange place to hold a festival. Why at the city's edge and not in the town square? Then Yori saw there was a building partially obscured by the tents, but its magnificently tall spire gave its position away. It was a church, that much was clear. At the very top of the spire was a large bell that had just begun to ring, its dulcet tones echoing all around gently. 

Perhaps it was a festival organized by the church? Yori didn't really understand why she was wondering about this at all. They had to find Charlie, but... 

It didn't take long to reach the festival. There was no mistaking the raucous sound of a bustling crowd weaving in and out of all the tents. Mini shops had been set up in each one, ranging from food stands to clothing stores to various knick-knacks. Who knew they sold porcelain figures of famous actors?

Elric, Yori, and Calina wandered down the middle lane of the road. They glanced at each stand, waiting for something to catch their eye. For Calina, everything caught her eye. Fancy butterfly knives were the most notable among all the items she saw. They reminded her of her swords, but a lot smaller. All they needed were little jewels in the handles and they'd be perfect. 

"Wait, hold on." Elric held out his hand to stop Yori and Calina. To his left, he could see a clothing stand that caught his attention. At first, Yori and Calina weren't sure why this one would be more interesting to him than the others. It wasn't until they walked closer that they found out.

In big, bold letters, the words 'Shorts Shop' were plastered over a sign above the tent. Elric had struck the jackpot. A shop dedicated entirely to selling shorts and nothing but! Finally! Elric's eye lit up and he slammed his hands down onto the counter in front of him, startling the shopkeeper. "This might be a stretch, but do you know of any shops nearby that sell capes?" 

The shopkeeper stared blankly at him. "What do you need a cape for? Nobody wears those. If you want one so bad, just go tie a blanket around your neck." 

"Capes are made of fabrics far more elegant than one would use in bedding. The finest of capes, or even cloaks for that matter, can be made of a smooth velvet or silk, while blankets are typically cotton-based. Some capes even have fur, like the one--" Elric was cut off.

"Yeah, yeah. Are you gonna buy shorts or what?" The shopkeeper kicked back in their chair and grunted.

Elric rummaged around in his duffel bag, looking for his wallet. To his dismay, it had been mostly emptied. Perhaps Charlie could foot their soup bill later on? "How much is that one, over there?" Elric pointed at a black pair of cargo shorts hanging from a rack.

The shopkeeper glanced back at the shorts and shrugged. "Eight cenz."

"Eight cenz?!" Elric nearly screamed. "Shorts in Propietra are never more expensive than four cenz!" 

The shopkeeper chuckled. "You're a long way from home, kiddo." 

Elric huffed and turned around, pocketing his wallet. "I refuse to barter with such rude people," he complained to Yori.

Calina glanced at Elric, then Yori, then back to Elric. "Hold on, lemme handle this." She slammed her hands down on the table.

The shopkeeper nearly jumped out of their skin. "Can I _help you_?" they hissed.

"Word on the street is you're mega-fucking over your customers. Think they don't know any better? Well, guess what, bucko?" Calina grabbed the shopkeeper's magazine and threw it on the ground, stomping away at it with reckless abandon. "Give the man his shorts or so help me, gods, I'll show you how gouging works in the real world!" Calina smiled a wicked grin as she leaned in closer.

The shopkeeper felt a cold sweat on the back of their neck. "...Here." They said, picking the shorts off the rack like a fruit from a tree. "Now could you please leave?"

Calina snatched the shorts away with a triumphant smirk. "Thanks!" she said, handing off the shorts to Elric.

At first, it didn't really feel right just taking the shorts like that. Elric was never one to steal or intimidate to get his way, but somehow this felt more justified. Was it the fact the shopkeeper tried to rip him off first? Or was it the fact that he just really wanted those shorts? 

"Elric? Can I ask you a dumb question?" Yori asked.

"None of your questions have ever been dumb, Yori. What is it?" Elric examined his prized possession carefully.

Yori hesitated to ask. "Why did you want these shorts so bad?" She sounded almost accusatory.

Elric looked past Yori and into the crowd behind her. It was hard to tell anybody apart when people were so densely packed, but Elric still felt uneasy. He looked back at Yori and lowered his voice. "I believe someone is following us."

"Huh?" Yori cupped her hand against her ear. "Someone is what?"

"I can't say it too loud, Yori," Elric huffed. He leaned in close to Yori and repeated himself. 

Calina, not wanting to be excluded, butted in between them. She rose from the ground between them and pried them apart. "What're we whispering about? Soldier stuff? Oooh, fill me in." 

"Calina," Elric huffed, "I think--"

"Hey, you huff a lot. You know that? Can't you, like, wheeze or grunt instead?" Calina teased.

"This is serious. I think we're being followed. I was hoping we could lose our pursuer in the crowd, but it looks like he caught wind of our plan," he explained.

Calina shrugged. "So, like, you want disguises or something? Not a terrible idea! Can I dress up as a pretty bride?" Her eyes twinkled as she imagined herself in a flowing gown.

"No," Elric said, flatly. "That'll draw too much attention."

"Hold on, hear me out. So if we really _are_ being followed, we could, like, dress in really flashy clothes. I mean, if he was told to track two Creaden in military uniform and some Simenti in gross-ass clothes, he's not gonna think twice when he see a beautiful bride and, uh, whatever you two wanna dress up as."

Yori sighed and wrestled the duffel bag out of Elric's grasp. "We don't have time to argue. Maybe there are clothes in here we can use?" She set the bag on the ground and unzipped it. Staring at the seemingly infinite bag still made her nauseous, but needs must, she thought.

"I don't think we'll have time." Elric glanced behind himself. The pursuer had been careful not to draw too much attention, but he saw through this. Nobody spends more than ten minutes at a porcelain knick-knack stand. It was curious, though. Why try to be subtle? Was the pursuer intimidated by Elric's and Yori's uniform? Or did they outnumber them?

Either way, it afforded them enough time to formulate a plan. The three of them would run in different directions. If they split, the pursuer could only follow one person. Not only was this a way to tell _who_ his biggest target was, but it was also a way to allow the other two time to perform a pincer attack. 

Calina looked into the distance. The pursuer Elric pointed out was talking to a couple of passersby. "So, no time for disguises, huh?" 

"Unfortunately not," Elric took the bag from Yori. "Let's get moving. Whoever he follows will have to lead him on until the other two can intercept. Understood?"

Yori and Calina nodded.

The man turned around and faced them. The two passersby he had been talking to also turned around. 

"Uh oh," Calina said. "We better move."

It didn't take much convincing to get Elric and Yori to start walking the other way. They did their best to act nonchalant, but it was tough. Being followed was enough to make even seasoned soldiers scared. They calmly and slowly strolled through the sea of people. 

The man and his two newly-acquainted friends began walking as well. Yori couldn't help but take quick glances behind herself. "They're all following us, Elric," she whispered. 

"Keep walking and don't look back," he said.

The three of them dipped and ducked between tents and small patches of people. Their movements were semi-erratic. They had to pretend they didn't know they were being followed, but they also needed to get away. It was a delicate situation.

However, the pursuers had no time for their antics. They broke out into a sprint as they pushed through the crowd. With reckless abandon, they shoved people over, knocked over stands... They seemed unstoppable. The three men chasing after Elric, Yori, and Calina were _serious_. 

"Run!" Calina shouted. She grabbed Elric and Yori by the wrists and broke out into a sprint. 

"After her!" One of the men shouted.

Calina ran as fast as she could. Dragging along two people may have slowed her down, but she was by no means a slouch. She spent her whole life running away, so what was one more sprint to her? Sweat beaded down her forehead. She wanted so badly to wipe it away, but she needed Elric and Yori to keep pace. 

Yori was having difficulty keeping up. She was never the most athletic person she knew, that much was clear. But sprinting was definitely never for her. Wheezes and coughs escaped her throat as she struggled to breathe. Her legs burned, her ankles ached, and her stomach cried in agony. 

Elric was having a better time keeping up. He wasn't called Feat Feet for no reason! But even he had his limits. He focused less on running and more on an elegant plan to lose their followers in the crowd. It was clear they needed something more drastic, but...

"You got a plan yet, genius?" Calina asked.

The three of them had been heading towards a dead end. A wide office building blocked the end of the road, making their only options to go backward, left, or right. They definitely couldn't get through walls.

But walls were hardly more than polite suggestions to Elric. "I do, actually. Trust me."

Elric grabbed Calina's and Yori's wrist, dragging them to the right side of the office building. Fortunately for them, there had been a small garden set up at the front. If they were lucky, there could be just enough earth to make this work. With their pursuers hot on their heels, Elric hopped into the garden, Yori and Calina following close behind. They huddled together. 

"Here goes!" Elric shouted, stomping on the ground. As he did, the earth around them shook. The ground swelled until a rectangular patch of the garden erupted from the garden below, launching all three of them into the air. They soared just high enough to reach the rooftop of the building. 

Once they landed on the roof, Calina turned around and looked downward. Their pursuers were stuck on the ground, helpless. "Take that, you sons of bitches!" 

Elric dragged Calina away from the edge and shushed her. "Don't antagonize them!"

"They're already chasing us! What're they gonna do, climb up here and fight us?" 

Below them, the three men already began their siege. Two of them had found a ladder from a nearby construction site. They leaned it against the front of the office, trampling over the disfigured garden to do so.

"Calina..." Elric sighed.

Calina hobbled over to Yori and grabbed her shoulders. "Hey, maybe you could deter them a bit? Get 'em to fuck off? You know what I mean?" 

Yori looked away. "No. I'm not shooting anyone."

This was going nowhere fast. Elric felt he had to intervene and take matters into his own hands.

Or rather, his feet.

Elric ran towards the ladder and jumped off the roof. As he sailed downwards, the men on the ladder stared in dismay. What the hell was he doing, they thought? Elric's feet reached the ground first, his shoes digging into the soft dirt of the garden. He could feel the ground shaking as he began walking away from the garden, the gentle rumble turning into a violent convulsion of dirt and grass.

A rectangular shape patch of land launched upwards, taking the ladder with it. The men soared through the air still attached. Of course, they screamed. The ladder sailed up and away much like a bottle rocket would.

Calina couldn't help but laugh. "Wow, look at 'em go!" 

Yori glanced at the flying ladder. She saw it land on the roof of a nearby building, and it looked like everyone walked away relatively unharmed. Maybe some scrapes and bruises, though. She let out a sigh of relief and slumped over. 

Elric hopped back onto the roof and walked straight towards Yori. He could see the exhaustion in her eyes, the sweat beading down her head, and the general malaise her posture illustrated. 

As far as fun diversion went, this was definitely at the bottom of the barrel. 

"Come on, Yori. Let's find an inn and stay the night. We could use it," Elric extended his hand. 

She stared at his hand, then at his face. It was a warm and welcoming sight, she thought. She shook his hand and hugged him, her arms tightly coiled around his back. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

"You're quite welcome," he whispered back. 

Calina, not one to be left out of anything, ever, joined the hug. She wrapped both arms around her new friends and squished them together. "An inn sounds good. I could use a shower. Hey, Elric, smell my pits," she said, lifting her arm up. 

"If I didn't have a stomach made of iron, I'd be vomiting," he faked a gag. 

"Oh, shut up. It's not that bad!"

After what felt like months, Yori chuckled. With everything that happened, she felt like she had forgotten what chuckling was like. But seeing Elric and Calina get along like this was... Yori thought it was great. Things could be a lot better, sure, but they could also be a lot worse. And Yori was thankful things were looking up from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My editor refused to let me make a Team Rocket joke at the end there.


	28. Divide and Conquer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Yori learns more about herself.

It had been a long time since Elric, Yori, and Calina slept in a comfortable bed. For too long they've had sleeping bags, cheap mattresses, or horrible injuries ruining their nights. But there was something magical about inns. Something almost supernatural about their ability to comfort and calm. Pillows just _felt_ a lot fluffier at an inn than anywhere else.

They rose with the sun, as they always did. Everyone went about their usual morning routine, except Yori's rifle ritual. But at this point, Elric and Calina adjusted to Yori's change of routine. It would've been weirder if she picked her old habit back up. 

Now dressed and ready to take on the day, Elric suggested they all get breakfast. After all, what's an inn without a continental breakfast? Nothing quite hit the spot like some fresh fruit and a hot beverage.

The dining area was rustic in design. Then again, so was the inn. The walls, the floors, even the tables were all made of wood. The only things that weren't wood were the utensils and the cushions on the wooden chairs. Long tables stretched across the entire length of the dining room with several guests eating happily with friends or family. A table on the other end of the room had a wide variety of small foods and beverages to select from. 

Elric lined up first and grabbed a plate. His choice of breakfast was a plate of fruit and some green tea. Oh, how he missed the sweet, sweet taste of an apple. It was the tastiest thing he had eaten since the train's onion soup. Then again, it wasn't even really his to eat. He could thank Calina for that.

Yori's choice was a plate of oatmeal, some toast, and coffee. Sure, she was a morning person, but she also had a caffeine craving. She took her coffee with a light splash of milk and a half spoonful of sugar, if possible. Black coffee wasn't her favorite, but she'd drink it if she had to.

As for Calina, she was never one for a conventional breakfast. Somehow, somewhere, she found a bottle of soda pop. Interestingly enough, the inn didn't sell soda. At all. Where did she find it? Elric and Yori had asked, but she waved her hand as she chugged her precious elixir. As for food, she ate whatever she could get her hands on, and as much of it as she could. The only thing that could stop her was a staff member shaking their head disapprovingly. 

The party was in two days time, yet Charlie was still nowhere to be found. Yori's elbows rested on the table as she held her head in her hands. Her eyes stared through her fingers as if they were bars on a jail cell. It reminded her of Charlie's imprisonment at the military base back home, even though she'd never seen them in any sort of cell. 

"I have a feeling that Charlie will remain elusive until they wish to be found," Elric suggested.

Yori didn't like that suggestion. "They're not exactly a master of stealth, Elric. They got caught last time, remember? I think they're just hiding, but not as well as we're imagining."

Calina snorted between bites of her plate of food. "You two are overthinking this. If I know Charlie--"

"Which you don't," Elric interrupted.

"...If I _don't_ know Charlie, then I think they're wherever this party is gonna be. So, I bet we just gotta look around there for some clues of a suspicious Creaden!" Calina coughed up a grape. She plucked it from the table and examined it for dirt, then shoved it back in her mouth anyway.

Yori leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. "But we don't know where this party is, Calina!" She sighed, throwing her arms in the air.

Calina licked her plate clean and set it down. "Have you tried asking the people here? I'm betting someone knows what's goin' on. Here, I'll go harass that guy over there." She pointed at a Simenti man sitting behind a counter at the front of the inn.

"Please don't threaten him," Elric pleaded.

"It'll be a piece of cake!" Calina stood up, kicking her chair back. With a hint of swagger, she trotted over to the desk and slammed her hands down, startling the concierge. 

"C-Can I help you, ma'am?" he asked. 

With a flick of the wrist, Calina brushed her hair and waved it around seductively. With a sly glance, she asked, "Know of any sick parties in the next couple a' days?" 

"Sick parties...?" the man's mouth was slightly agape. 

"Oh, I see what's going on," she winked. Calina's hand lazily found its way to her jacket, pulling it down ever so slightly. "It's so hot in here today, isn't it? Don't you just wanna..." Calina leaned in close enough to smell the sweat on his brow, "...Tell me about the party?"

The man leaned back as Calina leaned closer. "Ma'am... I'm gay. But if I tell you what I know about a party, will you stop?"

Calina blinked twice and stood up straight. "Oh, uh, sure. Sounds good," she said, fixing her jacket.

The concierge coughed and regained his composure. "Anyway, I saw some pretty important people here. They came from all around for the party at the capitol building the day after tomorrow."

"Wow, important people? That sounds pretty... uh, important," Calina added.

The man squinted at her. "I dunno why you wanna know, though. Only politicians, celebrities, or high ranking military officials get in. Unless you wanna sign up and wash dishes, or something." 

Calina scoffed at the idea. "Who, me? Dishwashing?" She placed her hand on her chest. "Fuck that, I'm the center of the party!" 

"Uh huh..." the concierge sulked in his chair. His eyes screamed for respite, but his nervous smile betrayed his inner oh-gods-please-leave-me-alone thoughts. 

Calina, in her infinite wisdom, decided that she wasn't done expressing her god complex. "Everyone's gonna turn their heads and stare in awe! I'm gonna be louder, angrier, and whenever I'm not around, everyone else should be asking, 'Where's Calina?'" 

That was enough to drive Yori over the edge. She stomped over to Calina and dragged her, kicking and screaming, away from the concierge and apologize profusely for her behavior. As funny as her outbursts were--Yori definitely thought them hilarious--she also could feel the secondhand embarrassment from across the room. It was so palpable that it felt like getting smacked by a pipe.

Now seated, Calina grumbled. "Look, I did some expert-level recon, and now you're upset with me?"

"That was a little bit more extreme than recon, Calina," Yori pinched the bridge of her snout and squinted.

With her arms folded, Calina retorted, "But now you know what's going down, where it's going down, and who's gonna bring the smack-down to it!" She smashed her fist into her open palm as she spoke. 

"We're not bringing any sort of smack-down to anything," Elric was quick to ruin her fun.

"...What about a little smack-down?" Calina compromised.

"No," Elric and Yori replied in unison. 

Calina deflated. "Fine."

Now that everyone knew where the party would take place, when it was happening, and (more-or-less) knew who would be there, it was all a matter of how to get in. 

The main issue was gaining entry, obviously. Only really important people got in, and the closest thing Elric and Yori were to that were military personnel. Unfortunately, PFCs and corporals aren't exactly high ranking. Yori lamented Nortia couldn't snag them an invitation to the party. Being a spy was hard work. 

Now that she thought about it, Yori realized they were committing some level of international espionage, weren't they? Well, not her, exactly. But Charlie would. And all three of them would be complicit in aiding and abetting a potential criminal by Catol's standards. Why did Nortia want Charlie infiltrating this party anyway? 

All Yori knew was that orders were orders and that was that. Surely there was a good reason for this, right? She wondered if Charlie knew more than she did. Well, obviously they did, but how much more?

"Perhaps we could play the part of waitstaff and kitchen workers so we can gain access to the party? Nobody would think twice about a waitress walking around where guests aren't normally allowed," Elric suggested.

"Do I look like the kinda person to wear a tuxedo and shit?" Calina leaned over to him.

Elric shrugged. "You surprise me every day."

Calina sat back down in her seat. "Good answer," she nodded.

"I don't really think that's a good idea," Yori mentioned. "Calina's not exactly one for, well, subtlety. Sorry," she turned to her and frowned.

"I'm subtle as hell and you know it!" Calina shouted, smashing her fist on the table. 

The sudden jolt caused Elric's drink to spill onto his lap. His tea burned his thighs, but mercifully for him, his tasset and shorts absorbed the bulk of the hot tea. "Ow, ow, ow, ow," he winced, trying to dry himself off.

Yori stood up from the table and pushed her chair in. "I need to make a phone call. You two can handle yourselves, right?"

"Yep!" Calina nodded.

"No!" Elric cried, tears streaming down his cheek.

"...Eh, you'll be okay," Yori rolled her eyes. She quietly excused herself and returned to the room they were staying in. It was quite a nice room, really. Like the dining area, it was rustic in design. Yori thought the wood aesthetic to be calming and tasteful, unlike the plain, white bricks and marble she saw around Esencia. It was too pure for her liking. 

In the room was a telephone. It sat on a table towards the front, practically begging to be used. Yori closed the door and locked herself in before grabbing the receiver. Number by number, she dialed the military base.

"Thanks for calling the, uh, Sabinese Military Service. What do you need?" a female voice stuttered out the words.

On the other end, a male voice cried out, "You're supposed to say it's the outer Propietra Branch! Otherwise, how will they know?"

"Well they dialed the right number, duh!" the woman replied.

"Answer the phone, Crow!" the man shouted back.

"...Black Crow?" Yori stared at the receiver in shock.

Annma gasped on the other end. "Oh, my gods. If it isn't little miss Phantom Hawk! Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? How have you been, girl?!" she shouted. 

Oh. That was a difficult question to answer truthfully without worrying anyone. "Well, I've been better. Things got a little crazy, but Elric and I are, well, alive," she sighed out the word 'alive'. 

"Man, you sound miserable, Hawk. Why don't you, uh, I dunno, polish your rifle? That helps you relax, right?" Annma suggested.

Yori sighed a sigh louder than she thought possible. "I'll be fine. We're eating breakfast at this inn, and--" Before she could continue, she heard some struggling on the other end. After a brief pause, someone else answered.

"Yori? Hey, it's Skylar. Two questions for you, since a certain Crow doesn't seem to feel like asking: Where's Charlie? And have you tried ceviche yet?"

Skylar was never one for formality or politeness--that much Yori remembered. What she didn't remember was just how blunt he could be. "I don't know, and not yet. We actually have an _idea_ of where Charlie will be, but that's about it."

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Did Charlie escape or something? I knew they were no good. You should've shot them while you had the chance!" 

Yori closed her eyes and recalled the scene on the train's caboose vividly. There she sat, crouched uselessly over Elric's unconscious body. Then Charlie ran past her just before the explosion hit. All she could do was watch the remaining train cars sail ahead while the caboose slowed to a crawl. She had been too petrified to move at all. How could she have shot Charlie then? Why would she? "No. I think Charlie would've been able to shoot me first, anyway."

Skylar breathed in, about to speak, when he was cut off from the line. Yori could hear the sounds of struggling briefly until Annma's voice answered. "Hey, wait, hold on. Why did Charlie have a gun? Specialists don't get guns unless they're--"

A smacking sound echoed in Yori's ear. "Ow!" Annma cried. "Skylar, what the hell?!" 

"You're not supposed to talk about that stuff to normies!" he shouted in the distance.

"...What's a normie?" Yori asked.

"Oh, dear," Annma pinched the bridge of her snout. "Don't ask."

Yori had grown accustomed to unusual terminology. It was just how military life was. Civvie, bang-bangs, bolo (she remembered others mocking Elric for being one), fang, she knew all of these terms. But normie was new to her, and she wondered if the meaning was as obvious as it sounded. She thought it redundant, though. What's the difference between a civilian and a normal person? 

It certainly wasn't a dig at someone who didn't have an affinity. If it were, Yori would've known about it. Intimately. Yori remembered just how painfully, agonizingly _normal_ she was. Or, at least, she used to be, she thought. Ever since the Zeva incident, life just hasn't been the same for her. Colors had dulled, sights and sounds were blurred and distorted ever so slightly--just enough to be noticeable, but no more. Sometimes she wondered if her stomach had really, actually tied itself into a knot since then. 

Would an affinity have helped her handle the situation more gracefully? "I could've done better..." she mumbled.

"You okay, Hawk?" Annma asked warily. 

"...Yeah. I'll be fine," she reassured Annma. "I think I've figured things out, now." 

Annma wasn't convinced. "Wanna talk about whatever's bothering you? I've got time. After all, me and Silent Sky over here got stuck on front desk duty. General Nortia caught us sneaking cookies into our dorms. In fact, Sky's supposed to be sweeping the floors!" Annma paused briefly. "Anyway, I can talk. I've got time."

Begrudgingly, painfully, and excruciatingly, Yori obliged. "Alright. I'll just be blunt about it: Have you ever killed anyone?"

Silence. It was so, so quiet that Yori wondered if she made yet another mistake. Just one of many. After--

"No, but I understand that's part of the job, sometimes. Especially for us specialists. I mean, look at Void--"

"Annma!" Skylar grabbed the phone and wrestled it from her grasp. He held his hand over the speaker and whispered to her, but Yori could still tell what he was saying. "Don't talk about Nunki to Yori."

"My name's Crow you horse's ass!" Annma shrieked. "...Oh, right. Good point. Give me the phone back, though." After another pause, Annma resumed speaking. "As I was saying, I haven't, Skylar hasn't, but that's just how it works sometimes. Look, Hawk, I know you pretty well. I know that you're the really sensitive type, kinda like your pal Feat Feet, but you shouldn't beat yourself up over this. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do."

"...So, that's my purpose then? Death from above? Maybe I'll finally become the Phantom Hawk I was always meant to be." Yori guessed.

"I mean, I guess you can look at it that way. If it makes you feel better!" Annma shrugged. "It's comforting, having a code name. It's something you can try really hard to be, something you can strive for. It's a goal. I wanna be the best Black Crow I can be, dammit! And to me, that means being all mysterious, like a crow." 

In a weird sort of way, this was comforting to hear. Maybe that's what the code names were really for, Yori thought. Aspirations, goals, reachable endpoints. "Thanks, Crow. I feel better." 

"Hey, no sweat! Anything for my fellow avian." Yori could hear Annma winking on the other end. 

Yori smirked. "I'll see you guys later. Let's catch up when I come back, okay?" 

"Will do! Bye, Hawk!" Annma smiled.

"See you soon," Skylar called out from the distance. 

Yori hung up the phone. The room fell silent once more, but she didn't mind it now. Silence is golden. She left the room and returned to the dining area quietly and sat back down next to Elric.

Elric had been sipping at his new cup of tea while Calina folded her arms and leaned back in her chair, legs on the table. Most of the staff seemed too scared to approach Calina and ask her not to do that. In other words, everything was normal. Controlled chaos, but that was the new normal. 

"Welcome back, Yori," Elric said between sips.

"Ayy!" Calina winked and pointed at her. "We got everything sorted out down here. Whatcha been up to, girl?"

Yori scooched her seat closer and rested her elbows on the table, her fingers interlocked. "I think I've got a plan for infiltrating the party. I think Charlie would be proud of this," she whispered.

Calina and Elric slid in closer, forming a rough circle around the three of them. They decided to let Yori speak.

"First of all, we need formal clothing," she spoke mechanically, like if she were reciting a document from memory. "I think a tuxedo for Elric and gowns for Calina and I should suffice. We need to blend in with the other patrons. Considering the scope and, well, overall wealth level of the guests, there's probably a grand piano there. Elric, you will pose as the pianist."

"He'll pose as the _what_?" Calina asked.

"Pianist," Yori replied.

"Oh, I thought you said... nevermind. Carry on."

Yori paused. Elric coughed uncomfortably. "In any case," Yori continued, "I know Elric can play. Maybe if we're lucky, one of us could be a singer to accompany him, Calina. How well can you sing?" 

"I think, instead of asking Calina to demonstrate, we should ask her if she understands anything about music theory. Do you happen to know what the word 'chord' means?" Elric asked.

Calina stopped to think about it. "What does a wire have to do with music? Oh! Is it like the strings on a guitar or something?"

"Actually," Yori interrupted, "I think I'll stick to the singing. Calina, why don't you try being a waitress? That seems easy enough to do."

"What, you don't have any faith in me?" Calina scoffed. "I can handle anything!"

"Then carry a plate of food and smile every now and then. Should be no sweat to someone as animated as you are, right?" Elric smirked.

"So now that we have that arranged, let's discuss what our real goal is: finding Charlie. We know they'll be there, but we just need to know what part of the building they're after and when they'll strike. Knowing Charlie, they'll likely want to cause a diversion so they can infiltrate undetected. We need to be on guard at all times so we can respond quickly as soon as we see anything unusual." Yori explained.

Elric glanced at Yori. "And what exactly is unusual? Are we looking for something specific?" 

Yori glanced back. "Remember that weird guy we caught before joining the army?"

"Well, yes, but I fail to see how... Oh, oh that's clever." The realization washed over Elric's face.

Calina, however, had failed to pick it up. "Gonna need a little more detail here, dudes."

Yori leaned closer to Calina and explained, "Charlie's got a way with people. They managed to convince someone to cause a distraction to try and sneak into our military base. And it worked." 

"The only time Charlie got caught was when they _didn't_ have a distraction. If it worked once, it'll work again," Elric nodded.

"Ahh, I see. So what do we do once Charlie makes their move?" Calina asked.

Yori cracked her knuckles. "We find them. It'll be pretty easy--just look where nobody else is. A good distraction catches everyone's attention and draws it away from a single point. You can't get everyone to stare at one place, but you can manage to get everyone to look away _from_ somewhere. Considering the party's at a capitol building, I'm going to assume Charlie is after something deep inside the building. Perhaps in an archive or office? It's hard to say, but we'll improvise if we have to."

Elric shook his head. "I'm not sure that'll work. The capitol building is likely quite large. We'd need a vantage point if we're to have any hope of knowing where to go." 

Yori leaned down and grabbed the duffel bag off the floor and rested it on the table between them. "I've still got my rifle in here. Maybe we don't need all three of us infiltrating the capitol. I could keep watch from the roof of a neighboring building while you two split up inside. I should be able to get a good look through the windows." 

"How the hell are you gonna tell us what's going on? Can you shout that loud?" Calina was confused.

Behind the table was a stand full of pamphlets and advertisements. Many of the papers were meant to advertise businesses, products, or other odds-and-ends. Yori reached back and grabbed a pamphlet and spread it apart, revealing a small catalog. She pointed at an item in the very center of the page and tapped on it. "Walkie-talkies." 

Calina snatched the pamphlet from the table and held it up to her face. "Whoa, this looks expensive. This is some new-age tech shit right here." After a second, Calina realized she didn't know what they were. "Uhh, what do we need these for?"

Elric spoke up. "They're like small, portable radios. We can keep in contact if we have them up to around. The only issue is their price. We don't have enough money to afford them, Yori." 

Yori smirked. "Oh, Elric. We don't need money, we've got something better."

"...A military discount?" he asked.

Yori shook her head.

"Charisma?" 

"Keep guessing."

"Do we already have walkie-talkies inside the duffel bag, and we just didn't know it?" 

Yori paused. "...Do we? That'd be easier." 

Elric opened the duffel bag and poured through it, but much to his dismay, he couldn't find anything useful. "No, we don't."

"We can work with this. Hey, Calina!" she snapped her fingers, grabbing her attention.

"Oh, hey. What?"

Yori pointed at the walkie-talkies on the pamphlet again. "If you go to this shop here," she said, moving her finger to the shop's address, "think you can swipe us two or three of those?" 

Calina's mouth opened slightly, then her lips curled into the happiest grin Yori had ever seen. "Oh, my gods. I thought you'd never ask! Hell yeah, I can!" 

"Sounds like we've got a plan. Let's get to work gathering what we need, team. We'll strike as soon as the capitol building's doors open. Sound good?" Yori glanced at her friends. 

They returned her glance and nodded. Calina spoke up and asked, "Team? Do we need a team name? Oh, man. That would be so cool. Wait, wait, if you two have code names, can I have one too? After all, we shouldn't just say our real names on the radio, right?"

Yori shrugged. "I mean... Okay, fine. You'll be, um, Careless Whisper." She struggled to come up with a name on the spot.

"Is that supposed to be a sarcastic name?" Elric muttered to Yori.

"Sort of," she whispered to Elric.

Calina scratched her chin as she thought about the name. "Hey, I like that. Let's go with that!" 

"Great," Yori said. "Let's get to work then, shall we? Calina, you go grab us walkie-talkies, Elric will take care of the clothes, and I'll patrol the capitol building and look for vantage points. Sound good?" 

"And where am I supposed to look for clothes, exactly?" Elric asked.

"You're smart, Elric. I'm sure you can work something out."

Elric sighed. "Okay."

"Alright. Let's go."

All at once, Elric, Yori, and Calina got up from the table. They pushed their seats in (well, Elric and Yori did) and exited the inn all at once. Once outside, they split up and began to complete their assigned task. Yori was proud of her ability to take charge of a situation and come up with a functional plan. It seemed like the kind of thing a Phantom Hawk would do. That, and being on overwatch duty at night. It made her feel good. The best she's felt in a long time. 

Yori had a purpose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was surprised walkie-talkies existed in the late 1930s, too.


	29. Fanning the Flame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, the flames burn ever brighter.

Change is never easy. Shanalotte knew this but never imagined just how stubborn people could be. Why was it so hard to convince people that you're trying to help them out? Why did nobody want to believe things could just be _better_? Why did you need to convince people that they had power in numbers?

It had been only a few weeks since Shanalotte was approached to join the Light of Truth, but their numbers had grown dramatically. Each member would silently and stealthily recruit others to join their cause, others who shared the same burdens as the other members. Sympathy was a powerful tool when leveraged properly.

Today, the Light of Truth had just over fifty members. Shanalotte was the 26th member to join. 

Shan's day hadn't changed much. They woke up at the crack of dawn, grabbed their tools, and headed off to the mines for work. But they never got frustrated while mining. They never let their supervisors or coworkers rile them up. No, they had placed their anger elsewhere. Supervisors and coworkers were just easy targets to vent frustrations onto. But that wouldn't help.

The Light of Truth swelled into an organization that demanded change. And while their numbers were still pitiful, many were sympathetic to their cause. Their creed spread across Sabine like a wildfire. Higher pay, more time off, shorter work days, health benefits, the list went on. It turned out that many of Sabine's underprivileged workers would benefit from such accommodations. But many were hesitant to express support publicly. 

Sabine's monarchy frowned heavily upon unions. Queen Turan had never spoken publicly about the Light of Truth, leaving many to wonder if she even knew about it at all. Most people never saw her outside of public events, such as ceremonies or transitions of power in parliament.

The Light of Truth set its eyes, not on the queen, but rather the owners of the mines. With Turan's laissez-faire style of worker management, mine owners were given free reign to act as they pleased. Many abused their powers, such as forcing their workers to pull long shifts or work in hazardous environments without proper precautions. Many rumors floated around, but nothing concrete. Some said the mine owners weren't in full control, while others said that the owners had free reign. 

To the Light of Truth, it didn't matter. All change started from the bottom up. They believed this in even the most literal of senses, rising from the ground and swelling with popularity, no matter how long it took.

And Shanalotte would make certain their vision was realized.

They stood in a town center, not unlike the small village they had grown up in. They waited for the sun to set, lower and lower until twilight took control. All around them, people began to scatter. They walked to and fro, stopping and starting up again like worker bees. It was amusing, they thought. How many people could they sway with their speech this time? Three? Five?

Shanalotte kicked over a wooden crate and climbed on top of it. They stood proud and tall and waited for people to be drawn naturally to their presence. The Light of Truth was not known for its theatrics, but Shanalotte thought differently. How could they ever hope to grow if nobody could find out more about them?

"How many of you, here, are miners?" Shanalotte asked the small crowd around them, raising their hand as they spoke.

Half the crowd raised their hands in response. Some began walking away. 

"How many of you... How many suffered from silicosis? From cave-ins? From unstable pay? How many?" Shanalotte spoke again, keeping their hand raised.

Fewer people raised their hands this time. Most of the crowd had dispersed. 

Shanalotte lowered their hand. "To those of you leaving, thank you. I am so very, very glad you don't experience the hardships we do. Really, I am. I wish I could walk away from this and not think twice about it. But I can't--we can't. We live it every day of our lives."

The crowd shifted awkwardly. 

"Who am I?" Shanalotte asked. "Am I not unique? Am I just another face in the crowd? Maybe so, but a crowd has potential, power, sway. It's so easy to forget that there is power in numbers. Together, we can demand better! You are not disposable, despite what you've been told! We can make a difference, but you need to break through the doubt and lies your bosses cloud your heads with!" They chanted, staring at each individual member of the crowd one-by-one.

Some people began mumbling. Shanalotte couldn't tell, but it didn't sound completely negative. Despite their best efforts, even more of the crowd dispersed. All that remained was a small group of eight people, each glancing around themselves. They watched their fellow peers begin to walk away. 

Shanalotte ground their teeth. "Why do none of you want _change_? You can't just ignore the uncomfortable truths and hope somebody else fixes your problems! It's not fair that we have to act, but that's how life is! But life can change! It doesn't have to be this way, you just have to _want it to change_!" 

A woman from the small group grabbed Shanalotte's crate. She hoisted herself up and confronted them. "I want change. I'm so sick of this shit. I hate working late hours and coming home exhausted. I pass out on the couch, wake up, and then head right back out. I haven't had time to knit in months." 

Shanalotte stepped to the side, giving both of them room on the crate. "This is what change looks like," they pointed to the woman. "The courage to do what nobody else can do. What's your name?" they asked.

"Bardle," she replied. 

"Bardle, Bardle, Bardle. I like you." Shanalotte turned towards the crowd and glanced at the remaining seven. "Do any of you wish for change?" they asked.

The crowd dispersed. Each remaining listener walked away, disappearing into the cool twilight. Shanalotte huffed and hopped off the crate, grumbling and grinding their teeth all the while.

Bardle hopped down as well. "Your speech could use some more work, I think." She grabbed Shanalotte's shoulder. "You managed to convince me because I'm a dumbass, but I don't think that'll work for everyone." 

Shanalotte pouted. "What's wrong with it? I spent days crafting it."

"Well, you need a bit more 'oomph' to it," Bardle said. "Like, you need to really draw out their emotions. I can tell you tried, but it sounded like you were reading from a script, not trying to connect with the masses."

"I _was_ drawing out emotions. I thought it'd be clear I was frustrated and wanted something more," Shan sighed.

Bardle patted their shoulder. "Hey, now. That's just step one of a good speech. Step two is showing people an easy-to-follow path towards whatever you want. Of course, they want change, but you can't just go preaching 'be different'. People aren't gonna like that." 

"So, what am I supposed to do, then?" they asked.

Bardle reached into her pocket and pulled out a rusted coin. Resting it on her thumb, she flicked it onto the ground behind her. "Wait," she said.

A passerby noticed the coin and reached down to pick it up. Bardle reached behind herself and into the passerby's pocket, pulling out his wallet and slipping it into her own. The passerby examined the coin and smirked. "Hey, wait, where's my wallet...?" he mumbled to himself. He couldn't feel a familiar leather pouch in his pants pocket anymore. "I swear I just had it."

Bardle slipped the wallet and gave it to Shanalotte. "You know what to do," she whispered.

Shanalotte blinked in confusion, wallet in hand. "What?"

The passerby glanced over and saw Shanalotte with his wallet. He sighed in relief. "Oh, that's my wallet! Thank you so much! Where was it?" he asked, walking past Bardle and towards Shan.

They glanced down at the wallet in their hands, staring at it blankly. Just what the _hell_ was Bardle trying to do? "It was, uh, I think it fell out during the speech. Must've brushed up against someone passing by."

"Oh, really? I thought I felt someone bump into me. Thanks, er, what's your name?" The man took his wallet and pocketed it. 

"I'm... Shanalotte. Say, did you like the speech at all? Did you have any, um, questions? Maybe?" they stuttered.

The man squinted. "Questions?" he said, rubbing his chin. "Uh, I don't know. I think this all sounds too good to be true, you know? How can I know you'll actually do something?" 

Shan paused. "Well, um..."

"Ghira."

"Well, Ghira! I'm so glad you asked," Shan could feel a nervous sweat beginning to form. "Think about, uh, how many miners there are. You probably know a bunch, right?"

Ghira paused to think. "I guess?"

Shan grinned. "Great! So you know how many more of _us_ there are compared to, say, your bosses. What if everyone got together and refused to work until we got better hours and pay? What could they do about that?"

"They'd fire us, wouldn't they?!" he said, looking panicked. "I have bills to pay!"

"They can't fire everybody, can they? If all of us agree not to work for shit, they'll _have_ to agree. That's why we need so many people on our side," Shan explained.

Ghira paused once more. "But how long would that take? I can't miss payments." 

"If we get everyone involved? Not long at all."

"Hmm. I'm pretty skeptical, not gonna lie, but I'm intrigued that you're not talking _completely_ out of your ass." Ghira nodded gently. 

Shan wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or not. "So, are you going to join us?" 

Ghira waved his palm in a noncommittal manner. "I guess. If I don't like it, I'm out, though. Got it?" 

Shanalotte grinned goofily. They grabbed both of Ghira's hands and shook them, nodding all the while. "You won't regret this! Trust me, you just made the best decision of your--and everyone else's--life!" 

"Hey, that's cool and all, but please stop shaking my hands." He complained, his wrists shaking violently. 

"Oh, whoops. Sorry!" Shan let go of his hands, letting them fall to his sides. Before they forgot, they reached into their pocket and pulled out a piece of flame paper. They handed it to Ghira. "These are so you can find more like us. It's hard to tell who's one of us and who isn't without these. Find somewhere to light this and we'll find you."

Ghira took the flame paper and admired it closely. "What happened to, like, secret handshakes? This seems a little... Oh, I get it. It's a flame, like a light. Fitting, I guess. Anyway, can I go home now? I gotta get ready for work in the morning." 

Shanalotte sighed. "Well, you can go. But keep an eye out for anyone else who wants to join us. The more, the merrier." 

"Can do," he said, turning around and walking away. He pocketed the flame paper and disappeared into the distance. 

After a brief pause, Shanalotte let out a long, exasperated groan. "That was so inefficient," they whined.

Bardle bumped Shan on the shoulder. "Oh, come now. You're not going to win the hearts and minds of Sabine's people preaching to them. You gotta get down and dirty, gotta mingle with the singles, go loco with the locals--are you writing this down?" 

"How are we supposed to get anywhere if it takes this much effort per person?" they asked.

"Things take time. Even I know that, and I'm impatient," Bardle added.

"So let me get this straight: you're impatient?" Shan asked.

Bardle nodded.

"And a dumbass? Your own words?" 

"That's me." 

"I guess that counts for one and a half people, then," Shan snickered. 

"Smartass," Bardle couldn't help but chuckle. 

Shanalotte didn't realize just how much time had passed. What was once the middle of a beautiful day had turned into an overcast haze. It looked as if rain was just on the horizon, much to their lament. Not that it mattered since their speech had long since ended. Still, dreary weather was never welcome in Shan's eyes. "It was nice meeting you, Bardle. Oh! Take this!" They reached into their pocket and handed her another flame paper. 

After pocketing the flame paper, Bardle had one last question to ask Shanalotte before leaving. "You know, I like your style. Maybe we oughta hang out more often. I could teach you how to pickpocket and other fun stuff, and you can show me how to be good at this whole Light of Truth business. I want a better job, dammit." 

"Do I really need to know how to pickpocket?" they asked.

"You don't wanna learn? Fine by me," she said, folding her arms. 

Shan thought about that for a second. Pickpocketing _was_ pretty cool. It didn't seem strictly necessary, but... "Actually, teach me. Please. I've always wanted to break locks!" 

Bardle unfolded her arms and smirked. "I knew it. You're just like me. Come, I'll show you how to break padlocks." 

The two shared a laugh and began walking away. All things considered, today was a net positive for Shanalotte and, by extension, the Light of Truth. Two new members, one of whom could be a very valuable ally. Who knows when questionably legal skills could come in handy? 

-

Ghira continued walking the same way he always did back home. After stopping at the local market for some ingredients for an easy dinner, he resumed his walk home. However, he felt a strange presence following behind him. As he turned around, he noticed two men keeping perfect pace with him. At least, they were, until he noticed them. The two men quickly rushed Ghira and grabbed each of his arms, causing him to drop his bags of food to the ground. 

"Let me go!" Ghira cried, trying to break free.

One of the men reached into his pocket and pulled out the flame paper from before. "What's he got in his other pocket?" 

The other man reached in and found nothing useful, just loose change. "Nothing." 

"What the hell do you want with me?" Ghira struggled. "I don't even want anything to do with that Light of Truth shit if that's what you're after!" 

One of the men perked up. "So you _do_ know about them. You know, members of the Light of Truth are wanted for treason. This paper's strong evidence against your case!" 

The other man elbowed Ghira in the stomach. "Where are the others?" he barked. 

"Ack!" Ghira screamed, a sharp pain digging into his torso. "I don't know! Really, I don't! I just got this paper today! I haven't met anyone at all!" 

The first man let go of Ghira, letting the other one take both of Ghira's arms. The first man then stood in front of Ghira, matching his eye level, and spoke. "If you can show us where the rest of them are, you'll be handsomely rewarded. If not, well, there's always an open cell waiting for you." 

The second man slipped the flame paper back into Ghira's pocket. "That's one of theirs, isn't it?"

The first man nodded. "What do you say, traitor?" he pinched Ghira's chin. "We'll let you go for now, but you have to give us something useful in return. How about showing us their base of operations? Think you can manage that for us?"

Ghira sniffled. "I... I'm still new. They might not trust me." 

The first man punched Ghira in the stomach again. "We trust you'll figure it out. After all, you're only hurting yourself if you don't." 

The second man kicked Ghira onto the ground and let him go. "We know where you live." 

The slightly damp dirt road beneath Ghira tasted even worse than it looked. He helped himself up, grunting all the while, and stared at his two aggressors. "I'll get it done." 

"Good!" the first man smiled. "Glad to see you're cooperative. You don't wanna be a treacherous bastard, I can tell. You know the Light of Truth is no good, deep down. They want to upheave our society as we know it. Things could be a whole lot worse, you know?"

The second guard chimed in. "Oh, definitely. They're arrogant, too. They think we're all not working just as hard as they are! You know how hard it is working anywhere near the borders? That Thieves' Guild is kicking up a storm and terrorizing people, and yet they're complaining about working a long day? Boo-fuckin' hoo!" 

"Alright!" Ghira spoke up. "I get it. Can I please go home now?" he asked, picking up his spilled bags of food off the ground. 

The men shrugged. "We'll come to you when we're ready. You better have more for us by then." 

Just as quickly as they had arrived, the two men left. Ghira only just realized how much pain he was in. Those men sure packed a punch, he thought. Next, he thought about what he had to do next. It didn't feel right to him, but he was too scared not to listen. Jail terrified him more than anything. So, even if it didn't feel like the right thing to do, it was still the best thing to do.

Besides, he never really believed in the Light of Truth anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH2x7ZJ1mIA


	30. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Calina makes a questionable cocktail.

Night had fallen, but the party had just begun. The large congress office was illuminated by an array of lamps, turning its pure white stone into a brilliant yellow. Arched windows stretched across the length of the building, revealing a large parlor where a great many guests had gathered. There was no doubt that this building was the most expensive one in all of Esencia. 

Yori thought it interesting that most, if not all the buildings were made of white stone. The Simenti people really do seem to appreciate a certain aesthetic. The capitol was even more beautiful on the inside, but she could hardly tell. She was lying prone on the roof of a neighboring building. All she could see was glimpses and hints of the capitol's interior and whoever walked in front of the windows. Thankfully, it provided just enough for her to get an idea of what was happening inside. 

In Elric's place was his trusty pair of binoculars from their days as border guards. It was funny, she thought, those days seemed so long ago. She kind of missed them. Now she had to act as her own spotter--not that she planned on opening fire at all, though. But if it came to that, she was ready. 

A small line of people gathered at the entrance to the capitol. The number had dwindled drastically since the doors were opened to the public. Each and every guest had been dressed in only the most beautiful, most regal of attire. Elric must've felt right at home with the number of capes Yori had seen. Of course, Elric and Calina weren't in line at all. Posing as a pianist and a waitress respectively, each of them had taken up their roles.

Elric sat himself down at the grand piano in the parlor. To Yori's surprise from yesterday, there had, in fact, been a piano. She could see Elric pore through the sheet music little by little. Sheet music always befuddled Yori, as did the concept of 'pitch', or 'tone', but she could appreciate good music anyway. All she knew was that Elric had surprisingly dextrous fingers for someone who prides himself on his feet. 

All the while, Calina had been surprisingly convincing as a waitress. She had yet to spill a drink or food or pick a fight with a guest. Then again, the night was still young. Anything could happen. Yori thought Calina looked cute, wearing that red gown. She never got the chance to appreciate her broad shoulders or her biceps in great detail before. 

It took Yori a minute to realize she had been drooling on her sleeve. She wiped it off and blushed before resuming her overwatch. 

-

The party on the inside was just as uneventful as it had seemed on the outside. Elric sat on the leather stool and played a gentle melody for the crowd. Of course, nobody was here for the piano, just for the event and the people. He sneaked glances at the crowd every now and then and realized many of them must be politicians of some variety. Not that he knew anything about Catolese democracy, though. 

The parlor itself was large and grandiose, befitting a president who had secured her third term in office not long ago. Marble brick comprised the majority of the interior with red carpet and drapery complementing the pure white stone on the inside. Portraits and paintings of presidents--past and present--lined the walls where windows didn't. 

Multitasking was extremely difficult with one eye. It had been a long time since Elric had time to practice his piano skills, but much like riding a bike, they weren't lost easily. His mistakes were quickly and quietly covered up with subtle improvisations. He wasn't sure if people couldn't tell or if they just didn't care about his mistakes. 

As for mistakes, Calina was in the process of making one. It may come as no surprise, but Calina had never been subjected to fancy terminologies such as a 'martini' or 'polite conversation'. 

"Excuse me," a patron tugged at Calina's gown, "I would like an Old Fashioned if you please."

Calina stopped and faked the best-worst polite grin she could. "An Old Fashioned...? Hey, uh, yeah! We can do that real good! Be right back!" She quickly excused herself to the kitchen for assistance. 

The kitchen was unimpressive, all things considered. All the budget must've gone to the fancy stained glass portrait of Calum in the parlor instead of the infrastructure. Against the far wall of the kitchen was a large book chock full of recipes. It was her salvation at this point. She couldn't keep ignoring guests' orders all night long. 

She hobbled as fast as she could in heels and yanked the book from the counter and dug through it. Her eyes scanned the glossary, trying to remember which spot in the alphabet 'O' was. After finally locating the 'O' section, Calina came to the conclusion that an 'Old Fashioned' was probably a drink, and not a food or an insult to her family name. 

Unfortunately for her, she couldn't find any books on cocktails. She decided to improvise rather than, say, ask for help or inform the guest that they couldn't make that drink at the moment. Taking to the refrigerator, Calina poured through its contents and took out the following ingredients: expired soda, salt (she mistook it for sugar), a slice of apple, and peach juice. To her, an Old Fashioned used only the finest of expired ingredients.

After carefully concocting her cocktail, Calina kicked the kitchen door open and paraded out. In her hand was a circular tray with her experimental drink in tow, served in a coupe glass. "Here you go, my dude," she bowed at the patron.

The patron stared blankly and snatched the drink from the tray. "...Thank you," he said, sniffing the drink carefully. He almost retched just from the stench alone but was already somewhat tipsy from the punch bar. Against his better judgment, he gulped his drink down in one. The initial taste wasn't so bad, but the aftertaste was...

The patron gagged. He felt his throat seize and his stomach protest the supernatural potion that entered his body. His body reacted as if he had been poisoned, causing him to gag and hack away. He quickly excused himself to the nearest bathroom to the surprise of many other guests nearby. 

"Well, you win some, you lose some," Calina muttered. 

The lights dimmed. The once well-lit parlor had been darkened into a deep amber. All that remained was the flickering candlelight providing its scant lighting. At the top of the grand staircase was a woman, dressed in a black tuxedo jacket, gray pants, and red hair tucked into a bun. Her hand glided down the railing as she marched down the staircase. The crowd began to cheer and applaud her arrival, but Elric and Calina weren't really sure who she was. 

The woman waved at the crowd and quieted them down. Once silence had fallen, she began to spoke. "My friends, welcome. I'm so glad you could be here, each and every one of you. In fact, I'm glad to be here, myself."

The guests applauded. Calina figured she should join in as well just to blend in.

"You know, I was supposed to be in Mercio today. I had intended to continue my tour around Catol, but fate had other plans for me. It's quite nice being able to attend parties at my own home, can you imagine that? Well, imagine no longer. I sincerely hope each and every one of you enjoys the party. Have an excellent night, everyone!" 

Elric stopped playing. What did she mean by 'my own home'? Unless... 

Unless that was Calum Algolin, president of Catol. 

-

Yori had no idea what the hell she just witnessed. She grabbed her walkie-talkie and pressed the button on the side, generating some static. "Feat Feet, who was that? Over."

After a brief pause, she saw Elric stealthily reach for his walkie-talkie and spoke into it discretely. "That was Calum. She's here." 

"Oh, gods," Yori muttered off the speaker. 

Elric spoke up again. "Have you noticed anything suspicious? Any signs of Charlie?" 

"Negative, over," she answered. 

"I'll keep my eye out," he said before tucking his walkie-talkie away for now. 

Yori began scanning the building as much as she could. Something caught her eye, though. Why was the entire building suddenly dimly lit? It made sense for a dramatic entrance in the parlor, but the rest of the building shouldn't be affected. The speech had ended a while ago, too. 

It was difficult to see inside, but Yori's eyes were attempting to adjust to the darkness. Easier said than done, obviously, considering the outside of the building was still illuminated. However, she noticed a shadow darting around the second floor of the capitol. She focused on the shadow as much as she could, but could only make out a vague shape. There was no mistaking the shadow's anatomy, however. Their ears gave them away.

A Creaden. It could only be one person. Yori scrambled to grab her walkie-talkie and called Elric. "Feat Feet, I think I found Charlie--I mean, uh, what was their code name? I found the specialist. What do we do? Over." 

After a brief pause, Yori heard a crackle on her speaker. "Hawk, Calum's being escorted away by her security detail. It looks like they're just as spooked as we are," Elric replied.

"So the specialist killed the lights? Over," she asked.

"It doesn't sound like Calum was supposed to be here. I think the specialist had to improvise as a result," he suggested. "Where are they now?"

Yori did her best to follow the gray body running in the darkness, but she could only do so much. "Their movements are too hard to track. One of you needs to follow them. Careless Whisper, are you listening? Over." 

Silence. 

"Careless Whisper, are you there? Over," Yori repeated.

A crackle broke through the speaker. "Hell yeah, I'm listening! Sorry, ran to the bathroom so I could chat. Where are they now, Yori--er, Hawk?" 

Yori sighed. "They're on the second floor, heading west. Does that help? Over." 

"On it, boss," Calina said as her radio went silent. 

Yori was still learning to put her absolute faith in Calina. And while she did trust Calina, it was still difficult to trust her completely. She could feel her heart beating out of her chest and her fingers twitching in turn. But now wasn't the time for nerves, now was the time for action. 

-

Calina kicked the bathroom door open and fast walked through the crowd and towards the grand staircase. Calum had long since been escorted upstairs and (presumably) to her office. Luckily for Calina, she was heading the opposite direction, which meant she was far less likely to encounter any guards along the way. Waitresses were probably not meant to be upstairs at all, but if she had to fake an excuse, she'd come up with one on the fly. 

The second floor of the capitol building was just as extravagant as the first. Red carpet with yellow frills and designs sprawled across the seemingly infinite hallways. The doors were made from a solid oak that looked more expensive than most people's yearly salaries. How come the Thieves Guild never came here, Calina thought? There'd be a ton of stuff to steal and sell off. 

"It's so dark," she grumbled. It was difficult to keep running when she could barely see ten feet in front of her. Despite this, she continued running. Walkie-talkie in hand, she began to speak into it, "Hey, still searching. Can ya see me, Hawk?"

A static-y voice spoke up. "Yes, the specialist is not far ahead of you now. They just ducked into a side room, open the third door on your left after turning the corner. Hawk, out." 

"Roger!" she shouted before clipping her radio to her side. The corner drew ever closer, all she had to do was round it and open a door. Calina screeched to a halt and banked to the left sharply when--

_Whap!_

A sharp pain splashed over her face, causing her to recoil back. Her hands covered her face as she groaned in pain, but she was granted no respite. Someone from behind he grabbed her by the arm and kicked her face-first to the ground below and twisted her arm. She screamed as she felt her arm contort into an unnatural shape behind her while someone's knee dug into her back. "Aw, what the fuck?!" she shouted, her voice partially muffled by the carpet.

The walkie-talkie fell off Calina's side and rolled onto the floor next to her. The speaker crackled to life. "Calina?! Are you okay?!" Yori shouted. 

The radio fell too far for her to reach, unfortunately. She couldn't quite grasp it, but she'll be damned if she didn't try. However, she noticed the person behind her let go of her arm. Not wanting to waste an opportunity, Calina snatched the radio from the floor and staggered to her feet, turning around to face her aggressor.

"Oh, shit! Charlie!" she exclaimed. "You pack a hell of a punch! Ow, ow, ow," she grabbed her nose, realizing she was bleeding. 

"You shouldn't be here," Charlie said quietly. "You're getting in the way."

Before she could give them a witty comeback, Charlie had already begun running down the hallway and disappeared into one of the doors. Not being one to be stood up, Calina followed behind closely. 

The radio sparked to life once more. "Calina?! What's going on? Hello?!" Yori shouted again.

"Hey, it's all good," she answered. "I found them, we're just working through some office now." Calina glanced all around the room Charlie had entered. In Calina's own words, it looked like a 'dusty piece of shit'. It must have been some sort of archive room where lots of documents were kept. All she could see were books upon books upon shelves upon more books. To break up the monotony, there had also been some drawers with folders inside. 

Calina was bored to tears--almost literally--but Charlie's eyes lit up like a kid in a toy shop. They flung themselves at every drawer and book possible, digging through each and every classified document and file they could get their grubby hands on. The sounds of pages being torn filled the otherwise silent archive. Charlie rolled the pages into little cigar shapes and stuffed them into their chest pocket. "If you want to help, and by all means feel free to, find anything labeled 'Calum', 'Thieves Guild', or 'Sabine'. Think you can remember four words at the same time?" 

"Excuse me!" Calina stomped. "I know more words than you can even count, you stupid idiot! But fine, I know this is actually impor-wait, what about the Guild?" 

The walkie-talkie sputtered to life. "Calina, what's going on? I can't see into the room you just went into. It looks like you're alright, but..." Yori's voice echoed in the room. 

Not wanting to leave her friend hanging, Calina grabbed the radio and spoke, "Hey, we're fine. I'm here with our best friend, digging through some sort of book room."

"A library? Over." Yori asked.

Charlie rolled their eyes. "It's the archive room. This is exactly what I came here for, but I don't have a lot of time because _somebody_ drew Calum here. Thanks for that, by the way," they complained. 

"Hey!" Calina shouted. "I didn't bring anyone anywhere, 'cept for Elric and Yori over here. Speaking of..." she pressed the speaker button on the radio. "Hey, Feat Feet, are you coming, or what?" 

After a pause, Elric's voice crackled through the speaker. "A bit tied up, but I caught the gist of the conversation. I'll be on my way as soon as I have an opening." 

Charlie continued their rifling through as many archives as they could, indifferent to Calina's presence. If they had it their way, there'd be enough time to read most of these documents. Unfortunately, Calina had disturbed their plans, intentionally or not. Their interference also meant their presence couldn't go completely unnoticed. So much for a top-tier specialist position in Nortia's army, but that was irrelevant. 

The sound of approaching footsteps filled the room. Charlie instinctively got into a defensive stance near the door, their back pressed up against the wall. Slowly and painfully, the door creaked open. A familiar hand let go of the doorknob and stepped inside. However, Charlie's instincts were too fast for their own good. They grabbed the man's wrist and shoved him to this knees. The bag at his side fell to the floor in front of him. Before he could even react, Charlie had a silenced gun trained on his skull with their finger on the trigger.

Elric complained. "I don't see you in weeks," he huffed loudly, "and this is how you greet me?" 

Charlie stood down immediately. They holstered their gun and helped Elric to his feet wordlessly until they noticed his eyepatch. Charlie almost recoiled in shock. "What happened to you?" their hand covered their lips.

"I believe that's a long story. We don't exactly have a lot in the way of time, now do we?" Elric folded his arms.

"...Yeah. I think I found everything I'm going to find. At least for tonight," Charlie folded their arms too, glancing away. Their gaze caught Calina staring intensely at a book. "Calina?" they asked, walking over.

In her hands was a file labeled 'Lacrimosa'. Calina had dug to the middle of the book and was silent ever since. It was unusual, needless to say. Calina was never this quiet unless it was serious.

_...Lacrimosa suggested the idea to me. I wasn't convinced at first, but he made it sound so appealing. I decided if he was going to pay me back in any way he could, I might as well hear him out. Even if his ideas seemed stupid at the time, I admit he's made quite the impression. I'll forgive him for that incident with the boy on their first endeavor._

Calina turned a few pages, trying to find the reference to the incident in question. 

_Lacrimosa came to me. He told me that a raid had gone awry, saying that he accidentally killed a woman for her necklace. Even though he swears it was self-defense, I have to wonder considering she was a single mother. It sounded to me like he couldn't control his affinity as well as he claimed..."_

It was too much for Calina to bear. She decided to let the book go and walk away. However, Charlie grabbed the book and read it. Elric joined in, unable to resist. 

_He took the boy in and demanded I give him a new home, but I couldn't. He said he would take him and raise him with his little rag-tag group of thieves. I don't exactly agree with him taking in Lil' Cal, but I couldn't help. The incident couldn't be tied to me at all, no matter the cost. I do wonder how that boy is today. Is he Lacrimosa's pride and joy?_

Charlie took the book and began flipping through the pages. The three of them in the room were silent until Elric spoke up. "I'm sorry, Calina."

"For what?" she sniffled. "I ain't mad at him. I'm madder that he kept this from me. Also, fuck this book, it's old as hell. I'm not a boy!"

"There's so much in here. I think this was Calum's private journal--Calina, where'd you find this?" Charlie asked.

"I bumped into the shelf. Saw a button behind it, pressed it, the book came out," she shrugged.

"A secret journal, then. This is too valuable not to keep. We need to get out of here. Now." Charlie stole the bag off the floor and made for the exit.

Elric and Calina were slow to react, but they shared a nod. Grabbing the radio, Elric held it up to his mouth and spoke. "We're leaving. Is the hallway out clear, Hawk?" 

-

Not being able to see was the worst thing for a sniper. Their sight was everything when their other senses were deprived in some way. The archive room was shrouded in thick blinds, obviously meant to keep just anyone from looking inside. Yori couldn't stop worrying. Then she heard the radio crackle.

"We're leaving. Is the hallway out clear, Hawk?" Elric's voice came through. 

That much she could figure out. The archive itself was out of her line of sight, but she could peer into the hallway, even just a little. She focused her binoculars on the large windows on the second floor and squinted. Her eyes had more or less adjusted to the dark, but it was still difficult. 

The lights on the second floor sparked to life. One by one, the rooms were illuminated like dominoes. "The lights are coming back on," she said into the radio. "I... Oh, gods." She could see someone running down the hallway towards the archive. They were moving too fast for her to make out the details, but it was clearly not someone friendly. "Someone's coming!" 

-

Charlie twisted the doorknob and pulled it inward, only to be greeted by a large, Simenti man. They barely had a chance to get a closer look at him when he sucker punched Charlie onto the floor. Their body fell like a ragdoll and folded over itself unceremoniously. The man reached down and swiped the gun from Charlie's holster. Dangling it between two fingers, he snapped the gun in two before kicking the remains away. "Not a fan of guns," he flashed a smirk at Calina. "You know that, right, Callie?"

As he spoke, Charlie crawled away, taking their bag with them. They picked themself off the floor and wretched in pain. 

"...Lacri," Calina spoke softly. "I have a _lot_ to say to you."

Elric was stunned. _This_ was Lacrimosa? He might be large, but Elric and Charlie could overwhelm him with just a numbers advantage. They shared a glance in acknowledgment and waited for an opportunity to strike.

"Oh, okay. Tell me: why'd you steal those swords? In fact, where are they now?" Lacrimosa asked, folding his arms. 

"Heh. Wouldn't _you_ like to know, shitlips?" Calina giggled to herself.

Lacrimosa patted his lips with his fingers. "Oh, gods, do I have some chocolate on here?" he visibly winced. His tongue rolled across his lower lip, then his upper lip, before smacking them both together. "Nope, just a little raspberry."

"It's an expression, shitlord," Calina huffed.

While they bickered, Elric and Charlie made their move. They charged Lacrimosa from both sides at once: Elric taking his left and Charlie taking his right. Opting for brute force, Elric jumped off the ground and dropkicked him, knocking Lacrimosa onto his back. Lacrimosa made no audible grunts or groans of pain as he felt. In fact, he barely reacted.

Capitalizing on the opportunity, Charlie grabbed his collar and jabbed his head repeatedly. Despite their attempts to knock him out cold, he just wouldn't react. Nothing they did drew out any sort of response; he looked bored, even! This only fueled Charlie's barrage of bashes to his skull.

Calina nearly shrieked when Charlie began wailing at Lacrimosa's head. She grabbed them by the shoulders and yanked them off. "Get off of him!" she shouted.

"Excuse me?" Charlie asked, trying to break free of her grasp. "I'm trying to get us out of here!" 

"You can't hit him. It's not gonna work," she explained. "It's his affinity."

All the while, Elric had tried to pin down both of his hands. Given how little Lacrimosa reacted, Elric had no idea if he could overpower him or not. 

His answer was made abundantly clear. Lacrimosa grabbed Elric by his hips and threw him across the archives. His body flew into the wall at the opposite end of the room, cracking the drywall from the impact. Elric grunted as his head crashed into the wall behind him, dizzying him as he slid to the floor. 

Lacrimosa helped himself to his feet and dusted himself off. "You guys should listen to your little friend here. She knows her stuff." 

Charlie began backing away slowly. Their leg caught the strap of their duffel bag, giving them an idea. Hooking the strap on their foot, Charlie kicked the bag into Lacrimosa's chest. With little hesitation, he caught the bag in both hands. This gave Charlie just enough time to dash forward and unzip the bag, causing some of its contents to spill out. 

They took a gamble. Anything could have been in that bag, including the notes and book they had just stuffed in there. 

Fortune must have favored Charlie. Calina's blades spilled out of the duffel bag and fell towards the floor. Wasting no time, Charlie grabbed the first blade that fell, reeled back, and swung it right for Lacrimosa's neck.

Until Lacrimosa caught Charlie's wrist. His grip was far tighter than Charlie had expected, causing them to scream in pain as they felt his hand tighten. All the bones in their wrist shattered with a pained crack. The blade fell out of Charlie's hand and straight into Lacrimosa's free hand. "Mmh, I don't know. You're quite spunky, but a little too spunky--am I making sense here? Calina? What do you think?" 

Calina knew better than to attack Lacrimosa when he was this cocky. She had nothing to say.

"Oh, you're still trying to fight?" He lifted Charlie into the air as effortlessly as a parent would lift their infant child. Their legs kicked and scrambled as they tried to break free. Their screams overtook any semblance of intelligent speech they had tried to squeeze out of their throat. "Let's fix that."

Lacrimosa whacked Charlie on the side of their head with the handle. It didn't take much convincing to get Charlie to collapse on the ground like a thrown-away doll. Their body lay uselessly on the floor, leaving Lacrimosa's other hand free.

"I respect the hustle, kid." His attention was focused only on the blade in his hand and the blade on the floor, not the body that lay before him. He picked up both swords and admired them closely. His reflection stared back at him through the blade. "Finally! Only took a couple of years, but I got them."

Calina's hands balled into fists. "Lacri... What happened to you? You used to be so nice and gentle! You were... You were..." Calina fell to her knees uselessly. This battle was lost before it even began, even she knew that. 

"Mmh, one moment," he said. His attention was drawn to the blades' hilts. In either one was a single ruby and sapphire, the very same gemstones Yori had once tried to extract an affinity from. Lacrimosa plucked them from the hilts and jostled them in his palm. "They're pretty small, all things considered. I guess that's fitting, though. This world's lost a lot of faith."

Elric crawled forward on the ground. He was too dazed to see what happened to Charlie, but their motionless body laying on the floor told him all he needed. His fingers clasped at their uniform lazily. "Charlie... I'm sorry..." he whispered. 

Behind Lacrimosa were two armed guards, both equally intimidatingly tall and muscular. Each one grabbed Elric and Calina and brought them to their feet in front of Lacrimosa. "Bring them to you-know-who's office; I'll take the feisty one on the floor. Oh, boy! I can't wait!"

Elric's vision went cloudy again. He could faintly hear Yori's voice calling for him on his walkie-talkie, but he couldn't make out the words. Even if he could, there was nothing he could do.

The mission had failed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to be fair, this could have gone a lot worse


	31. Dead on Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, things get tense.

A hazy mist covered Elric's eye. His vision started to come back into focus after losing consciousness briefly. He could see vague shapes of people--two of them, in fact. One was seated at a desk and the other stood next to them, waiting patiently. After a few blinks to adjust his sight, he could see the same man that apprehended him in the first place: Lacrimosa.

And Calum, president of Catol, sat at the desk. 

"Lacrimosa," Calum's hands ran down her face to her chin as she sighed in exhaustion. "Our guests have awoken." 

Elric looked to his left, then his right. Charlie and Calina had been tied to chairs next to him, all of them facing Calum's desk. Then he realized he, too, had been tied to the chair. His hands were bound behind the back. It must have been a tight knot because no matter how hard he struggled, it wouldn't budge. 

"I encourage you to try as hard as you can to free yourselves," Calum spoke softly. "But haven't you committed enough treason for one day?"

Charlie spoke up. "I don't know what you're talking about, ma'am," they smirked.

At first, Calum didn't react. "Interesting. They taught you to play dumb at specialist school, didn't they?" she said, standing up from her seat. She began to pace around her office with her hands behind her back. "Yes, I know at least you and the other Creaden are military. I can't think of any other reason why someone like you would be here, at my special party," she stopped. "In my archives," she walked closer to Charlie. "Rummaging for intelligence," she said, leaning down to stare them in the eyes. 

Charlie was silent. 

"I think I know what you're here for. Dirt. You want something to incriminate me, is that it?" Calum stood up straight and resumed pacing. "Now, what could it be that you wanted...? Proof that the recent election was illegitimate? Some sort of horrible record that I've manipulated or slaughtered my own people to further a political agenda? Have I been taking bribes from lobbyists to pass legislation that would benefit none but the wealthy?" 

"With all due respect, which, I'd like to point out, isn't a whole lot, you don't matter as much as you think," Charlie spoke confidently.

Silence. "I have to agree. A president isn't any more important than her people. I think Catolese citizens know this better than any other nation in Omnia--just take a look at my approval ratings. I--"

Calina interrupted. "What the _fuck_ are you doing with Lacrimosa? Why're the two of you even standing in the same room?! What the _fuck_ was the Guild for?! Tell me!" she spat, screaming at Calum. 

"Great question, Calina. Keep talking, ask her more. You must have a lot of questions, right?" Charlie glanced at Elric and whistled quickly. 

His attention was drawn to Charlie's back, then down to the base of the chair's back. Charlie had begun working a small knife against the rope that bound their hands together. That was when he realized Charlie's goal: distraction. He decided to play along. "Yes, actually. Tell us more about the Guild and your relationship with it, President Algolin. We were harassed by some thieves on the way here, in fact. What do you have to say about innocent civilians being attacked in your great country?"

Calum walked herself back to the desk and sat down. "To answer your first question: yes, I've been working with the infamous Thieves' Guild. I've funded their exploits and kept them from facing jail time when they inevitably got captured. The Guild's sole purpose was to pursue a very specific pair of gemstones, namely a ruby and a sapphire. As for your second question: the Guild has not killed a single innocent citizen. Don't just take my word for it--you can ask the leader himself. Isn't that right, Lacrimosa?" 

Lacrimosa sat on the edge of her desk. "Calina, you know better than anyone I never allowed weapons on raids. I made it very clear that the Guild does not harm without cause."

"You killed my mom, apparently. Or did she not count as an innocent civilian, you stupid shitstack?" Calina seethed, baring her teeth. 

Calum nudged Lacrimosa. "Is that... Cal? The child you brought to me when you first started the Guild?"

He nodded. "Oh, my dear Calina..." he stood up and held his hands to his chest. "I will always regret killing her. It was an accident, I'll have you know. All I wanted was her jewel-encrusted necklace, but she was defensive. She must've thought I was coming after you, and I couldn't help my affinity. She just wouldn't let up," he explained, kneeling down in front of Calina as he spoke. 

Calina looked away. "Fuck you."

"I do mean it, really. But I do have to wonder..." he stood up. "Why do you suddenly care about your parents? You never asked before, even though you knew you weren't my little girl." 

"Good question. Guess I just got nostalgic when I saw your face. Makes me wanna know why you tried to kill me. Emada, Espio, Zeva--it's fucked up! All for some shitty gems that don't even work!" Calina shouted. 

"Don't work...?" Lacrimosa paused. "Did you really think I would go through all this trouble, all this grief, for nothing?" As he spoke, he walked towards Calum. In his palm were both of the gemstones he had pried from Calina's sword hilts. He opened his hand and dumped them into Calum's palm. 

Once they made contact with her hand, the gems began glowing faintly. "Isn't it magnificent? The legends really are true! And it's just as we thought, Lacrimosa."

Calina stared at the glowing jewels in Calum's hand. Their soft, subtle glow instantly filled her entire body with a gentle warmth. "Cool magic trick. I'm so impressed," she rolled her eyes.

Calum closed her palm and pocketed the gemstones. "You were sitting on greatness, and yet it was just out of grasp. Your thoughts must have been impure, your desires too selfish. These gemstones were meant to benefit the many and not the few."

Calina shrugged. "I don't really care. I wanna go home, man. You got what you wanted, right? Can't we just go?" 

"Why would I _ever_ let you go? This is an international incident. Two Sabinese soldiers and their little, non-citizen accomplice, found breaking into the capitol building to steal sensitive documentation? I'm half expecting each of you to start chewing a cyanide pill before this conversation's over," Calum admitted. 

Elric glanced back to Charlie. Their knife had successfully managed to slice through the ropes binding their hands together. Stealthily, Charlie slid their balisong into their good hand and held their hands in place. "So Catol's president supported the Guild in secrecy for some shiny rocks. This'll look bad in the newspaper, you know," Charlie smirked. 

"You're not in any position to speak to her like that," Lacrimosa pointed at Charlie while walking over. He crouched down on his knees, getting to eye-level with them. "I'm sure we established this already, but if you need a reminder..." Lacrimosa grabbed them by the shoulder and squeezed. "I can make it hurt. I won't kill you, but you'll come close."

"You shouldn't hesitate." Charlie mumbled. When his guard was down, they began to strike. In one swift motion, Charlie swung the knife and stabbed Lacrimosa in the shoulder blade. The knife twisted around, scraping at his bones. 

Lacrimosa howled in pain as Charlie yanked the knife back out, blood spraying from the wound. They took another swing for his chest, but Lacrimosa caught Charlie's hand. The two of them struggled, staring each other in the eyes. Their glares pierced through each others' defenses, filling the room with grunts and gasps of terrified exhaustion.

Elric and Calina were helpless to watch, while Calum only looked bored. 

Charlie's grip on the knife slipped. The more they resisted Lacrimosa's grip, the stronger he became. Then, faster than a bolt of lightning, Charlie's grip faltered. Their knife was no longer under their control, and Lacrimosa stabbed the blade straight into their neck. 

There was a brief moment of pure silence in the room. Lacrimosa staggered back while Charlie's limp body fell from the chair and collapsed on the floor. Blood coated his hands, leaving a stain that would never be washed away. "I... It happened again..." his breath hitched. His breathing was staggered, inconsistent, and shallow. "It wasn't supposed to... I didn't mean..."

Calum stood up from her desk and rushed over to Lacrimosa's side. She got a close up of the dead body laying before them. "Lacrimosa, you defended yourself. Pull yourself together." She reassured him, holding his shoulders and leaning in close while she spoke. 

"I swore that _I_ wouldn't kill again! Not without purpose! This wasn't a meaningful death at all, Calum!" he sputtered. 

Elric's eye began to well up. There were no words he could say that would accurately express his thoughts and feelings. The ring on his finger felt even tighter now than it did when Charlie escaped the blast. Now he could see their dead body. There was no mistaking it this time.

Calina struggled against her bindings and screamed. "I'll kill you! You should burn in hell, Lacri! When I get my hands on you, you're _dead_!"

"I'm sorry!" he cried. "Calina, I--"

"Shut. Your _fucking_. Mouth," her teeth dug into her lip. 

"Lacrimosa. We have the gemstones. With them, we can benefit all the people of Omnia as a whole. One life for the lives of the many--isn't that what we agreed on? You knew this even after the Cal incident."

He nodded.

"Now dispose of the body. I can... 'interrogate' these two on my own. Is that alright?" she asked, patting him on the back.

"...Yes, ma'am." 

Lacrimosa shuddered as he stared at Charlie's body. The sight alone made him want to vomit, let alone the smell that would soon follow any recently deceased body. He grabbed Charlie by the waist and slumped them over his shoulder. Wordlessly, he escaped the room and disappeared into the hallway. 

And then there were three. Calum sat at the edge of her desk with her hands planted on the top. Elric and Calina's eyes were hazy with held-back tears. "Explain yourselves. Your friend back there was wearing one of your military's specialist uniforms. What was your _real_ purpose? It can't have just been documentation, could it?"

Elric swallowed the lump in his throat. "The only one of us who knew... is dead. Unless you can interrogate a ghost, we can't offer anything valuable."

Calum frowned. "Pity. It seems you were trained well, then. Play dumb, act like you're unimportant, it reeks of Nortia's paranoia."

Elric's ears perked. "How do you know about Nortia?" he asked.

"I've been president for longer than you've been a soldier. You act as if I've never met with your country's queen and military personnel. I know all the generals personally," she sighed. "Nortia always was thorough." 

Elric and Calina were silent.

"You know, there are rumors I somehow influenced the election. Can you believe that? I'm sure that's what you've been told, but it's wrong. I was rightfully elected for my third term." She stood up and paced around her desk. "The people of Catol understand who they voted for--and why. They see progress. They see a bright future. I promised them greatness, and I'll die before I make a liar of myself." She placed her hand on her heart. Her fingertips grazed her Catol flag pin.

"And those gemstones are your promise of greatness?" Elric asked.

"Have you been paying attention?" she stopped. "You must not have gone to history class much. The gemstones were said to grant affinities long ago, but they were lost to time." Calum opened her palm and revealed the dimly glowing gemstones. "We've lost our way. We prey on each other instead of praying for each other. We need divine intervention." 

Calina snorted. "You think the gods would favor a crazy bitch like you?" 

"...Lacrimosa told me a lot about you, Calina. He tells me you were sent on a mission to retrieve those swords, but you ran off with them instead. Nobody could find you for almost three years after that happened," Calum explained.

"Yeah, well, I stay hidden really well. It's my shitty little affinity," she smirked.

"I don't think so. It may seem obvious, but the gemstones are... special. They react to emotions, you see." She paused briefly. "The gemstones disappeared because people lost their way. They stopped seeing affinities as tools for bettering society, but rather for their own selfish benefit. The gods must not have approved of this, and so the gemstones disappeared. We believe they became inert, impossible to differentiate from normal gemstones. Worse yet, they may have even intentionally hidden away, appearing dull on the surface to deter any pursuers. If the gods really didn't want us finding them, then we would never find them." 

Elric interrupted. "You sure know a lot about gemstones."

"A leader is well read in all forms of literature. How do you expect one to lead the future if they have no understanding of the past? I spent my youth reading as much as I could, uncovering every hidden truth of this world. The textbooks, the notes, I learned as much as I could." Calum returned to her desk and sat in her chair. "I wanted to know how to be an effective leader. I learned a good leader knows that tough decisions must be made for the greater good. When I read more about the gemstones, I realized the benefit they could bring to the world outweighed any risks."

"Fuck you and fuck the books you read. People died for this bullshit, and you're lecturing to _us_ about the _greater good_? Fuck off." Calina tried to spit at Calum, but she was too far.

Calum blinked slowly at Calina. "The gods clearly favor one of us, here, and it isn't you. They believe that I can bring about a new era of peace and prosperity. You must've held those swords in your hands a hundred times, yet not once did they ever glow for you. All you could think about was yourself and no one else. You lack the selfless devotion that it takes to be a true leader," she lectured.

"The only thing lacking here is my fist in your face," Calina hissed.

The door to Calum's office opened slowly. Lacrimosa appeared in the room and shut the door behind himself. "The body's in the incinerator, ma'am." 

Calum tilted her head back to the door. "Excellent. I should really begin my preparations, don't you agree, Lacrimosa?" 

He nodded. "What do we do with Calina and the Creaden?"

"Hmm..." Calum rubbed her chin. "Do we have any room in the basement? We can't let them go until we're finished."

"Yes, there's room for a couple of chairs. I'll drag them there myself," he offered.

Calina began shaking her chair around, stomping and swinging her feet wildly. "I ain't rotting in a fucking dungeon! I'll gnaw through these ropes if I gotta!"

"I like her style, Lacrimosa. Make sure her ropes are extra tight. We can't have her causing any more problems than she already has." Calum stood up from her desk and dusted herself off. "Well, Calina, Creaden," she adjusted her cuffs, "I've enjoyed our time together. Unfortunately, that time has come to an end. Oh, and if you're worried--I'm not going to kill you. Once I return, you'll be put on trial for international espionage."

Lacrimosa spoke up. "Should we demand the Sabinese military release their Guild prisoners? I heard Reblan was caught a few months ago. Gods only know how much he's been suffering." 

Calum pushed her chair in. "I'll see. If I can release him without arousing suspicion, perhaps. I understand he was one of your best men?"

"He was. All of my thieves are experts in their own way, but he was always the key to cracking large cases. His affinity is something else, you know," Lacrimosa smiled. 

"So was Zeva's. Now she's dead," Calina spat. "She attacked us, she took my friend's eye, and she impaled me a fuck-dozen times. She wanted me to suffer for as long as possible, Lacri!" she shouted.

Lacrimosa walked over to Calina and crouched to her eye-level. He wiped a single tear from his eye and sighed. "I should've sent her to steal those swords instead of you, all those years ago. Maybe then nobody would have had to die."

"I'll be on my way," Calum waved before walking towards the door out of her office. "Make sure you take care of them before too long, Lacrimosa."

"Consider it done, ma'am," he said.

Calum grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, only to find someone already standing in the doorway. At first, her mind couldn't register who it was. It felt like her mind was playing tricks on her.

Charlie stood in the hallway. Their uniform had been singed and blackened, but they were standing before Calum, alive and well. In their hand was the very same balisong that had once been dug into their neck. Without hesitation, Charlie lunged forward with the knife, aiming for Calum's chest.

Lacrimosa stood up and dived towards Calum, tackling her out of the way. The knife grazed his shirt, but he was mostly unharmed. Calum had missed the blade entirely, thanks to Lacrimosa's intervention. He quickly stood up and pinned Charlie against the wall, grabbing their wrists. The balisong fell to the floor with a soft clang. "Calum, you need to leave _now_! This... this freak is... Just go!" 

Wasting no time, Calum made a break for the door and sprinted down the hallway. Charlie struggled as hard as they could from Lacrimosa's grip, but he was overpowering her. Watching Calum escape unchallenged hurt more than getting stabbed in the throat.

Charlie kicked Lacrimosa in the crotch and knocked him away. Once free, they ducked down and slipped between his legs, picking up the balisong all the while. Lacrimosa spun around and caught Charlie by the neck, lifting them off the ground with surprising strength. "You've forgotten about my affinity. Again." His grip tightened. "You little rat." Baring his teeth, he threw Charlie against the wall. 

Their body cratered into the drywall, the impact shaking paintings and photographs hung on the wall around the impact. Lacrimosa leaned his foot back and kicked forward, digging his boot into Charlie's face. He unleashed a barrage of stomps, shoving them even deeper into the wall with each kick. "Not this time," he grunted.

Elric and Calina struggled desperately to free themselves. The shock of seeing Charlie, alive, was too much for them to process now. All they could focus on was helping out however they could. But they couldn't. The bindings were simply too tight, and no amount of struggling would save them. 

Lacrimosa's kicks grew harsher still. His last one managed to send Charlie flying through the wall entirely and into the hallway outside of her office. This finally gave them enough space to work on a counterattack. They waited for Lacrimosa to appear in the hallway--either he'd crawl through the hole in the office wall, or he'd come through the doorway. Whichever way he would come, Charlie would enter the office the other way. 

Lacrimosa sprinted through the doorway, causing Charlie to slide through the Creaden-sized hole in the wall. Once in Calum's office, Charlie ran towards the nearest window and waited. 

"Is that your plan? Running away?" Lacrimosa shouted. He closed the distance quickly, standing in front of the window. 

"Sort of," Charlie shrugged. They looked towards the window and waited. 

"Sort of?" Lacrimosa's curiosity got the better of him. He glanced out the window briefly but saw nothing. 

Then, the window shattered. Glass spilled all over the floor with a loud crash, hurting Charlie's ears in the process. The sound of a bullet piercing through flesh and bone followed not long after. Lacrimosa's body went limp and collapsed to the ground. A single bullet through the skull ended his life. 

Elric and Calina were too shocked to say anything. They both stared in stunned silence while Charlie walked casually towards them. Knife in hand, they sliced open their bindings and freed them. "I told him not to hesitate," they shrugged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> charlie is the dark souls of affinity unbound


	32. Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, everything that lives is designed to end.

"I don't understand," Elric began to speak. "We saw you die. You... you've got scorch marks on your uniform!"

"That's a fun story. I'll tell you later, though. For now, we have to leave," Charlie hurried Elric and Calina along.

Calina wasn't having any of it. "So how are we gettin' out? Calum's probably sending all her goons after us, yeah?"

Charlie glanced at the window to their side. Shards of glass lay on the floor just in front of it. "Crazy idea, but..."

"But?" Elric asked.

"Your affinity is good for launching people into the air, right?" Charlie smirked at Elric.

"...Oh. Clever," he nodded.

"What? What is it? I don't get it," Calina huffed.

Elric took initiative and walked towards the window. He scraped at the sides and base of the frame with a book to clean up most of the jagged glass remaining. Then he leaped out of the window with a graceful front flip. 

"Elric, you bastard! We need help, too!" Calina leaned out of the window and shouted.

She could see him hitting the ground softly. The garden running along the perimeter of the capitol building made for an ideal getaway for Elric, but Calina still didn't understand what his plan was. Once Elric stepped away from his landing spot, a large, earthen disc rocketed into the sky, floating gently in front of the second-floor window.

"Your ride's here," Charlie said, shoving Calina onto the platform. Without hesitation, they joined her and hopped out of the window.

"What the hell?!" Calina shouted as the disc descended slowly back to the ground. Once they were safe, she realized it was actually kinda fun. "Can we do it again?" she asked.

"No," Elric said.

"Anyway, we've got to go. I'm guessing Calum's got no less than... half of Catol after us?" Charlie shrugged.

"What about Yori?" Calina asked.

This question didn't seem to reach Charlie, as they simply began running off. Neither Elric nor Calina knew where they were going, but they definitely didn't want to abandon Yori, either. Luckily for them, they didn't have to make a decision.

Yori ran out from the building she had been perched upon. Even she was amazed at how quickly she flew down the stairs to reach the ground floor. Her face was pained and coated in her own sweat, her breaths inconsistent and shallow.

WIth her rifle in hand, her finger grazed against the trigger. Silently, she pointed the barrel at Charlie's chest. "Explain yourself, Specialist Charlie," she said, coolly. 

"Yori, what's gotten into you?" Elric reached forward, trying to move her rifle's barrel away from their comrade.

Yori knocked his hand away, keeping her gun square on their chest. "I want an explanation. You survived an explosion, you survived incineration--I saw you climb out of that furnace. There's no way you could've survived that ball of fire. It should've burned you alive, and yet here you are."

"Well, what makes you think I'm afraid of getting shot, then?" Charlie asked.

"I couldn't see what was going on in that office; I ran across two buildings to get a clear shot. Then I see you, of all people, climbing on the roof with a knife sticking out of your throat," Yori explained.

"Dinner got a little intense," they replied. 

"Don't fuck with me!" Yori shouted, her rifle digging into Charlie's uniform. "I want to know why you went AWOL. You got the rest of us stuck in the middle of fucking nowhere and almost killed! I want answers and I want them _now_!"

Calina approached her slowly. Her hands rested gently on Yori's shoulders. As soon as she did, Yori nearly jolted back. However, when she saw it was Calina, her arms relaxed and her stance loosened. However, her gun was still trained on Charlie's chest. "Yori, we'll get answers. We need to go somewhere safe, first. Okay?"

Yori seethed. "...Fine," she said, slinging her rifle over her back. "I bet you've got a brilliant plan, don't you?" she asked Charlie.

"Typical behavior. I should've known better coming from one of Nortia's top dogs," they grumbled.

Nobody said anything about that. They simply followed Charlie, darting from street corner to street corner until they came across a sewer cover. Charlie bent over and pried the lid from the street, sliding it across the road. "Alright. Pile in."

A wave of a foul stench and pungent odor smacked the others in the face. Going into the sewers to hide was an awful idea. But if spending a night in the world's worst hotel meant not being arrested and possibly tortured for international treason, then did it really matter? Charlie was the first to climb down the ladder, followed by Elric, then Yori, and then Calina. Once everyone was in, Calina closed the lid, enveloping the tunnel in darkness.

Or at least, that's what they thought. Candles had been stockpiled along the walkway. They formed a path leading into an offshoot tunnel, which Charlie immediately began walking towards. The rest followed, realizing they must have been living here for a few days.

The offshoot tunnel didn't last for long, but there was no sewage anywhere near it. The smell was the most pleasant (or rather, least awful) in this part, so it only made sense to hole up there. A small bed had been crafted in the corner made from patchwork fabrics, along with a few books for leisure. 

Unfortunately, there was only one 'bed'. There was enough room for four, but it wouldn't be comfortable. Charlie laid down on their bed, letting out a long sigh of relief as they did. 

Yori crouched at the end of the tunnel and stared at them. "So, explanation time?" 

"Eh, sure. We gotta wait until the coast clears, anyway. Once sunrise hits, we're bolting for the first train to Sabine," Charlie said.

"Why aren't we chasing Calum right now?" Calina asked.

"Calum?" Yori had missed out on Calum's meeting.

Charlie motioned for the rest to take a seat wherever they could. "If Calum sees us, we're just walking into her trap. No doubt she's got lots of bodyguards accompanying her. We need to give her a little space, but I know _exactly_ where she's going."

"How do you know?" Elric asked.

"Listen closely. This conspiracy goes a lot deeper than you think. Let me explain where it all started..." Charlie trailed off.

***

The sun had just begun to set, marking the end of yet another labor-intensive shift in the mines. Tonight was a special night, however. For the first time in months, a large chunk of the members of the Light of Truth would gather. The meeting was necessary due to the speed at which they've grown in the last year. Swelling to almost sixty members was nothing to be taken lightly. 

Shanalotte and Bardle met up after their respective shifts in the dead of night. Unlike Aurora, they felt it unnecessary to do their secret greeting. They trusted each other. There was no reason to prove their identities to each other when they already knew full well who they were. 

The night was still young, and so were they. Tonight's meeting was to be held in an abandoned warehouse not far outside of town. Nobody was ever really sure why the warehouse was abandoned, but it was nice to have somewhere convenient for secret meetings. Bardle and Shanalotte were running late, so they decided to hasten their pace.

The path to the warehouse was darkened--there hadn't been lighting in this area at all. The road was little more than dirt carves by decades of footprints weaving through a sea of grass. The warehouse itself was only two floors tall, but it still stood as a pillar for the Light of Truth. Meetings happened here very infrequently, but when they needed to meet, this was the place. 

It was rather quiet, now that Shanalotte thought about it. Usually, there would be crickets, owls, or at least some sort of ambient noise to fill the silence. They decided to dismiss this train of thought considering how pointless of an observation it was. 

Together, Shanalotte and Bardle grabbed the door handle and swung it open. They expected a hushed meeting of people gathered around in a circle, sharing their thoughts and ideas for a brighter future. Instead, they saw something far worse, far more gruesome than anyone could've imagined.

Bodies. Dozens. Each of them had been scattered, filling the floor with cold emptiness. Blood pooled around them, centered around wherever their fatal wounds lay. Some tried to escape, it looked like. There had been a body hanging out of the window, limp and cold. 

Shanalotte recoiled in horror, their eyes widened. A cold sweat traced the back of their neck and tickled their spine. Bardle just stared in stunned silence. They weren't sure what they felt, but whatever it was, it had been dulled. 

Being the first to react, Shanalotte raced to each body, checking for a pulse or any other signs of life. Each and every corpse was as quiet and still as the night sky around them. They recognized everyone they came across, knowing their names and personality quirks. 

A lump swelled in their throat. Shanalotte couldn't help but vomit on the ground nearby. A pool of sick slime spread across the ground, dirtying up an already filthy crime scene.

That was right, Shanalotte thought. This was a crime scene. Mass homicide. Someone was responsible for this--maybe even several people. But who and why? Their eyes caught a familiar pair of bodies towards the back of the warehouse. Their heart dropped further than it already had tonight. Wiping their lips with their sleeve, Shanalotte sprinted across the room and crouched in front of two bodies.

Aurora and Ricard. In their final moments, they had cradled each other in their arms. Blood mixed and pooled between them, linking them together in eternity. Whatever their cause of death was, it wasn't swift. They suffered, they begged for mercy, they wanted to _live_. And somebody wouldn't let them. 

Aurora's ring caught Shanalotte's eye. They plucked it from her ring and examined it closely. Her engraved initials only confirmed that this was, indeed, Aurora Inocencio. 

Bardle had nearly startled them. "You should keep that ring. I remember Aurora mentioning she had a kid. Poor bastard. He'd want these rings, I bet." 

Shanalotte sighed. "What do we do now?" they pocketed the ring. 

"I don't know," Bardle said, grabbing Ricard's ring and pocketing it. "This must've been... a couple dozen of us? We lost half of our members in just a few hours. I don't think we'll recover from this." 

The warehouse was quiet. It should've been lively, chatty, animated. Instead, it was just a graveyard of their hopes and dreams. Shanalotte spoke. "If I were Aurora, I'd want everyone to move on. We can't give up now, can we?"

Bardle paused. "That sounds ridiculous. We're clearly being hunted like animals. Hell--we shouldn't even be here; we should be in hiding instead! Live a new life under a new name, a new identity. Forgetting this ever happened is probably the only way we'll survive this." 

Shanalotte glared at Bardle and grabbed her shoulders. "If we give up now, everyone here died for nothing. We can't be intimidated so easily! I'm not just gonna let whatever monster did this get away with it!" they shook her as they spoke. 

Bardle shoved Shanalotte's hands off of her shoulders. "Aurora and the others wanted us to live better lives, not throw them away for a worthless cause."

"Using Aurora's name to justify cowardice is a new low, even for you."

"Using her name to justify suicide is reckless and stupid, Shan!"

Shanalotte's lips parted, but no words came out of their mouth. Instead, tears streamed down their cheek. They collapsed onto the floor and sobbed into their elbow, trying their best to hide it from Bardle. It was all in vain, of course, as Bardle reached forward and grasped their shoulder gently. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered. 

Shanalotte's broken whimpers subsided. "I'm sorry, too." They helped themself up to their feet and dried their eyes. "I'm going to call an emergency meeting for whoever's left. You don't have to come, but..."

Bardle glanced away. 

"...Yeah. You'll know where to find us if you change your mind," Shanalotte said.

In silence, they left the warehouse and went their own, separate ways. Shanalotte wanted nothing more than to give each and every one of them a proper burial but knew it just wasn't possible. They spent the entire walk into town thinking only about their deaths. Half of the Light of Truth gone in an instant. 

They thought it ironic their symbol was a small flame. A fire has the potential to burn and grow rapidly, but until it catches, it's likely to be extinguished. But Shanalotte refused to see this flame die before it spread like wildfire. This flame would not sputter out and fade before they did. This hill is the one Shanalotte chose to die on. 

-

Hours passed. Shanalotte spent all day long finding the remnants of the Light of Truth and urging them to attend their emergency meeting. They were hesitant to explain why the meeting was necessary, but many members could read between the lines. Something was horribly wrong and everyone could see it in Shanalotte's face.

It was well into the night by the time everyone had gathered. There had always been a backup meeting location in the event of... emergencies. Shanalotte gathered everyone into a dense and thick forest. It had been the very same forest that Shanalotte had found Aurora and Ricard for the very first time. It wasn't that long ago, but to Shanalotte it felt like forever.

A group of twenty gathered in a circle in the forest clearing. Hundreds of meters of shrubbery and brush veiled their presence, making their meeting completely invisible to the outside world. Shanalotte climbed on top of a large rock and towered over the remnants of the Light of Truth. Everyone glanced upwards and waited for them to speak.

"Friends, I'm so glad you could all be here. I--"

"All? Where's the rest of us?" A voice piped up from the crowd.

Shanalotte paused. "I... We... It's..."

"Well?" Another voice spoke up.

"Someone's killed the rest of us!" Shanalotte screamed, wanting to get the words out of their system. They felt relieved just saying it, but the look of horror on everyone's faces instantly filled them with regret. "I don't know who, or why, but... We're not safe. We need to be more careful. We can't lose anyone else." 

The crowd swelled with commotion. Shanalotte couldn't tell what anyone was saying--people were shouting over each other, screaming at the top of their lungs. They were scared, they all were. Shanalotte tried their best to calm them down but to no avail.

"Surely there's a traitor among us, yeah?" Someone's voice rose above the rest. The crowd hushed instantly. "We just need to find out who."

Shanalotte continued. "We can't know if someone is selling us out. If we start doubting each other now, we'll be our own destruction." 

A different voice erupted from the crowd. "I don't trust any of you! I'm getting the hell out of here!" A single person angrily stomped away, presumably never to return.

Three more followed in their footsteps. The remnants dwindled to even lower lows than Shanalotte had thought possible. Sixteen members remained, including Shanalotte and Bardle. But at least now everyone knew who the most dedicated members were. For once, the crowd was silent. 

"I won't lie," Shanalotte continued, "this isn't good. But we can rebuild. We can survive. For now, we need to stick to the shadows. Bardle had a point: she thought we should give this all up and live our lives in secrecy. I don't entirely disagree with her. I think we stand a fighting chance, but we can't be overconfident." 

Ghira spoke up. "Big words from someone who lectured all of us into joining."

The crowd turned their attention to Ghira in the middle of the group. Shanalotte stared. "I'm sorry?"

Before he could speak, the bushes and trees rustled all around the crowd. It sounded too unnatural to be wind. It sounded like a person.

"Let's not get at each other's throats, now," Bardle's voice echoed in the forest. She appeared before the group and hopped onto the rock next to Shanalotte. "We can't grow at all without making leaps and bounds to spread our message. Sometimes we have to act out to get support. Did I approve of Shan's actions? ...Eh, the jury's out on that one. Would I have done the same? Definitely not. But my point is that _someone_ had to. This group, this rebellion, stagnated for years before finally gaining traction. Shanalotte is just as much a leader as Aurora was. Treat them with the same fuckin' respect you would treat her, alright?" 

Everyone was silent, even Shanalotte. Instead of words, they wrapped their arm around her shoulder and smirked. "We're stronger together. What we need to do now, more than ever, is trust each other. If we give up now, everyone who's died so far will have done so for nothing. I refuse to let that be the case."

Bardle continued. "I'll admit, I'm a huge coward. But Shanalotte made me realize there are things worth fighting for. I guess if you're here, you understand that too."

Ghira grumbled and left. He shoved his way past anyone standing in his way and slipped into the evening. Nobody questioned his departure or even gave it so much as a second glance. 

"So," Shanalotte spoke, "who's willing to stay and fight? Who still believes in the Light of Truth, no matter what?" They hopped down from the rock and stood in front of the group. 

Everyone nodded, sharing their thoughts and sentiments. Many were positive and hopeful about the future. Their hope was the only thing keeping the harsh reality at bay.

The meeting was dismissed, but something was off. Bardle swore she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She poked her head out from behind the rock and saw a small group of armed military personnel converging on their position. They couldn't have been more than a couple dozen meters away--Bardle wouldn't have been able to see them if they were farther than that. The forest was simply too thick.

She could tell they were military because of their guns. 

Bardle slipped behind the rock and grabbed Shanalotte from behind. "We need to get the hell out of here right now," she urged.

Shanalotte stared wide-eyed at her. "What's wrong?"

"Soldiers. They're coming after us." Bardle turned her attention to the crowd and spoke just barely loud enough to be heard. "Everyone, scatter!"

A couple of people ran away from the soldiers behind them, only to run into another group of soldiers. It became increasingly obvious that there wasn't just one group, there were several. And they were boxing the Light of Truth in. A ring of soldiers trapped the crowd, along with Shanalotte and Bardle. Each and every soldier had been armed with rifles of the highest caliber. 

A woman stepped out from behind one of the soldiers. She wore a blue military uniform with a large, red belt at her waist. A navy cloak wrapped around herself, concealing her physique. Her hat matched her uniform and bore the symbol of Sabine's flag. Whoever she was, she looked like a high ranking military officer--perhaps even a general. 

And it was clear she was leading the charge. 

"You know, treason is the most severe crime one can commit. Each and every one of you dedicated yourselves to a cause that tried to subvert our peaceful society and monarchy. Your violence knows no bounds. Isn't that right, Ghira?" the woman nudged Ghira into the ring of soldiers, trapping him with the rest of the Light of Truth.

Ghira shivered violently, sweat pouring down his face. "I was supposed to be safe! I led you right to them! Let me go!" he demanded.

The crowd turned their attention towards Ghira. Shanalotte and Bardle, in particular, glared at him. Shanalotte couldn't help themself and grabbed Ghira by the collar, nearly lifting him off the ground in anger. "How... How dare you?!" they threw him on the ground. Unable to contain their fury, Shanalotte stomped on Ghira's face, leaving a bootprint on his cheek.

Bardle wrapped her arms underneath Shanalotte's armpits and pulled them away. "Shan, that's enough."

The general shook her head. "Like I said: violence. It's not even constructive violence, either. You just want to take out your selfish fury on your fellow man--there's nothing benevolent about it at all. Your kind makes me sick."

"And you're somehow more benevolent?" Shanalotte seethed.

"My violence has a purpose. I serve the country of Sabine, I seek to preserve it at all costs. You seek to undermine our very society as we know it. If all the miners refused to work until their unrealistic demands were met, Sabine would crumble as we know it. We export gemstones, my dears. If you happen to understand economics better than I do, please speak up," she insisted. 

Shanalotte spat on the ground. "You make me sick. You're just looking for an excuse to kill us like farm animals." 

Bardle let go of Shanalotte and walked towards the general. Their steps were heavy and slow, but deliberate. "It was me. I... I'm the leader. If you take me, will you let the rest go? I... I poisoned their minds. It's all my fault, and only mine, ma'am." 

"No!" Shanalotte shouted and reached forward. Before they could get anywhere near Bardle, a nearby soldier whacked them in the face with the butt of their rifle. Shanalotte collapsed to the ground, staring upward at Bardle kneeling before the general. 

The general was unconvinced. "Noble. But insufficient," she said, grabbing Bardle by the shoulders and hoisting her to her feet. "Sabine has no room for dissenters. You'll be the first."

"The first...?" Bardle asked. She glanced down and noticed the general had a pistol holstered at her side.

"Indeed," she said, grabbing the pistol and pointing it at Bardle's face. "May the gods have mercy on your soul because I will not."

Shanalotte reacted without thinking. They sprung to their feet and dived forward, past the soldier, and latched onto the pistol in the general's hands. The two struggled for control over the gun, grunting as they fought. 

"Bardle, run!" Shanalotte shouted.

She hesitated at first. Looking all around her, she could see the remaining members of the Light of Truth struggling with each and every soldier. She could slip away right now before anyone would notice she was gone. And so she did.

Bardle slipped between two soldiers in the middle of a power struggle. There was no hesitation on her part--she ran as fast and as far as she could, never looking back. She escaped.

Shanalotte's grip was faltering. The barrel of the pistol began tilting towards them ever so slowly. Their strength could not match that of a trained general in her prime. 

"Rebellious brat!" the general shouted. She kicked Shanalotte onto their back and trained her pistol right on their forehead. The last of her patience had waned, and all that remained was her singular goal.

The general pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced Shanalotte's skull effortlessly, ending their life right then and there. Their body slumped as a deathly gasp slipped out of their throat. 

The remaining soldiers had taken control of the situation. All the remaining members of the Light of Truth had been executed, leaving no one alive. The second pile of bodies lay strewn about the forest floor, just like in the warehouse.

A soldier approached the general. "General Nortia, should we go after that Bardle woman?"

Nortia sighed. "She can't get far. Send some of my specialists after her."

The night had come to an end, and so did the Light of Truth. The last flame had been extinguished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Close your eyes now time for dreams,  
> Death is never what it seems.  
> Did the things you thought you should,  
> All the things they said were good.
> 
> All your faith in ancient ways,  
> Leaves you trapped inside a maze.  
> Take the lives of those you need,  
> Sow the death then reap the seed.  
> Reap the seed.
> 
> Born an angel, heaven sent,  
> Falls from grace are never elegant.  
> Stars will drop out of the sky,  
> The moon will sadly watch the roses die.


	33. The Weight of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, they are perpetually trapped in a never-ending spiral of life and death.

The world's natural beauty was something that could never be taken away. No matter what happened, one could always find a picturesque landscape to appreciate and unwind. Hilltops were the preferred spot by many, especially for cloud watchers and stargazers. It was a place where many people could go to rest. Although for one person in particular, it was more than just a resting place. It would be their final one. 

Or so they thought.

-

Underneath the beauty of nature lay darkness. The ultimate end of everything is neverending darkness. It was cold but comforting, harsh but inviting, and eerie but calming. Even the end of everything could be peaceful. 

Life was brilliant. Beautiful. But nothing in this world exists without duality, without parallel. Therefore, without death, there cannot be life. As one life came to an end...

Another began.

A still-living body lay in a tight cocoon of dirt and stone. Their body had been as still as the earth around them: their chest did not rise and fall with each breath. It was quite serene, peaceful, even. Nobody complained, nobody ached, and nobody minded. 

Worms slithered and snaked through the earth while flowers sprouted from it. What wasn't tranquil about becoming one with the basis of all life? But what happens when a body refuses to decay? When it refuses to rejoin the earth and sacrifice itself to begin the cycle of life anew?

The body's eyelids fluttered open, allowing dirt to coat their pupil. However, they didn't blink once. Instead, their hand struggled against the earth's crushing weight. How could dirt be so soft yet so heavy? 

Worse yet, it offended all the senses. The surrounding dirt tasted like cold gunpowder and reeked of a pungent metal. The texture was like wet sand, but somehow even more coarse and rough. Worst of all was the sound of sliding dirt and debris. It was a neverending droning. Hearing gravel drag against gravel was only more pleasant than nails on a chalkboard. 

Despite the odds, their arm snaked through the soil until it rested on their chest. They could feel a soft, cloth-like fabric on their fur. It was pleasant to the touch, their fingers dancing across their chest to appreciate the texture fully. Their other arm soon followed suit, dragging through the soil until their hands rested on their chest.

With both hands freed, the body cupped their hands and began clawing away at the crushing weight above them. Dirt gave way to more dirt for what felt like an eternity. With each handful pushed aside, more came to take its place in a seemingly endless downpour.

However, this could not continue forever. There was a surface somewhere above, even if the body had no way of knowing which way was 'up'. Their vision was impaired by all the earth around them--all they could rely on was touch. 

After enough dirt had been displaced, the body sat up. Their bones creaked and rattled and cracked like old machinery. Their muscles had atrophied severely, causing their clothes that had once fit them to look bulky. Instinctively, they began to breathe, even though they hadn't breathed once until now.

Their vision was now freed, granting them vision once more. Above them was a small ray of light, beaming from the surface like a glitter of hope. They reached their hand up, grasping at the light as if it were a tangible object. Their hand clasped shut with nothing in their palm to show for it. 

'Not done yet' was their first thought. They continued parting away at more dirt and stone above them, carving out their own path through the earth around them. Eventually, they had enough room to stand. They slowly lifted themselves up, their knees nearly buckling under their own weight.

The surface was closer than ever but seemed to be even further away now. The body continued their upward ascension, climbing through the ground until their hand grazed the underside of what felt like grass. 

Their fist punched through the earth. Once surfaced, the body began lifting themself through the hole they carved out. Groans and wheezes escaped their throat as they did as balls of dirt shot out of their throat like phlegm during a cold. Lifting one's own body with atrophied muscles was a feat few could claim dominion over. 

A set of ears poked through the surface. Bunny shaped ears with a stained, white fluff on the interior. Next, a rounded head with dark brown fur began poking out of the ground, followed by torn and ragged clothing. The tail was next to reach the surface, followed by a pair of legs. Indeed, they were a Creaden.

The Creaden had been ripped from the earth like a bandage. The first thing they did was glance upwards at the massive, blue sky. Before they could fully appreciate it, the sun burned their eyes, causing them to recoil in pain. After a brief moment, their hands slid away, allowing their eyes to adjust to the bright world around them.

It was harsh. It was hot. Every moment standing on the surface was agonizing. Their legs barely had the strength to hold themself up, causing their thighs to wobble like leaves in the wind. A gentle summer breeze bit at their fur, causing them to shiver ever so slightly. 

They began to observe their surroundings. They were on a grassy hilltop with what looked to be a small town at the base. On the other side of the hill was a plain that stretched infinitely outward. The air had a hint of salt to it--were they near an ocean? No ocean was visible, but there had been a faint cawing in the distance. Seagulls, perhaps?

'This way,' the Creaden thought to themself as they began shuffling towards the small town ahead of them. They stepped forward slowly, legs still wobbling, making agonizingly slow progress with each step. As they began descending the hill, their foot had caught a small rock, causing them to trip. 

They tumbled down the hill, banging and scratching the harsh ground with each bounce. Their shirt earned a new set of tears across the front and back. All the while, the Creaden refused to let out even so much as a squeak of pain. Their tumble had ended not long after it started at the base of the hill. Compared to being buried alive underground, faceplanting and rolling down a hill was far less painful. At least, that's what they thought. 

With a grunt, the Creaden picked themself up and dusted the excess dirt off. However, their clothes would always be stained with a grimy muck. But that didn't matter. The town was teasingly close now.

Limping through the dirt roads, the Creaden glanced side-to-side trying to read building signs. Library. Cooper. School. Nothing useful. 

"Where... where..." they wheezed, struggling to find their own voice. 

A man had been leaning up against a nearby building when he saw the limping ghost-like Creaden cross his sight. He walked over slowly, trying not to startle them, but he wondered if they even noticed him at all. "Hey there, you doin' alright?" he asked. 

The ghostly Creaden shuffled forward. They dragged their feet along the ground in complete ignorance.

"Do you need a doctor?" he asked again. It wasn't hard to keep pace with a lumbering, creeping mass of fur and flesh that looked thinner than a rail. "No offense, but you look like hell." 

Stopping short, they craned their head to the side. As they did, their neck cracked. "Food," they wheezed. 

Never in his life did the man see someone look so malnourished. His eyes had been drawn to their lanky legs, wondering how they didn't snap under the pressure. "Oh, uh, alright. Why don't you just sit down here and I'll find you some food? Is that okay?" the man pointed towards a nearby table outside of a small shop. 

Their eyes traced the man's gaze, focusing on the table. They shuffled towards it and grabbed the seat, slumping into it unceremoniously. Once settled, their head had leaned against the back of the seat, their arms draped down at the sides, and their feet lay sprawled out. 

As quick as he could, the man fetched whatever food he could afford from the nearest market. A loaf of bread, a bottle of milk, and a jar full of anchovies. He spread them out on the table in front of the hellish looking body and took a cautionary step back. "Here, eat. Gotta get you some meat on your bones." 

In front of the Creaden lay a cornucopia of carbs and calories. They eyed it with the same indifference they eyed the man who so graciously fed them. They stared at the food in front of them, then eyed the jar of anchovies suspiciously. After a brief staring contest with the fish, they attempted to unscrew the lid. Unfortunately, they were far too weak to get much further.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"...Jar--" the Creaden hiccuped.

"Char... Charlie? Did I hear that right?" the man held his hand up to his ear. 

The Creaden shook their head, pointing at the jar. "Jar--" they squeaked again. 

The man nodded solemnly. "I see. Charlie is a fine name! Oh, looks like you need some help with that jar. Allow me!" The man swiped the jar from Charlie's grasp and unscrewed the lid, placing the open jar back on the table.

Now freed, the pungent stink of sealed fish splashed over Charlie like a tidal wave. Without hesitation, they grabbed the jar and tipped its contents directly into their mouth. They chugged on the anchovies like an alcoholic chugged their precious elixir. Pickled fish and brine slithered their way down their crusted, flaky lips and throat and into their stomach. 

The jar's capacity was halved within record time. Was their stomach secretly a bottomless pit? If that were the case, then it was hardly a secret anymore. The man watched in complete, dumbfounded awe. 

And then the jar was emptied. They slammed it down on the table, nearly shattering it in the process, and let out a long, low burp of approval. 

"So, uh, feeling better...?" the man asked sheepishly. 

Charlie wiped their lips with their hand and used the other to grab the loaf of bread. At first, it looked like they were about to yawn, but instead, they began shoving the entire loaf of bread into their mouth. Their hands squished the bread into a relatively-bite-sized chunk of carbohydrates and swallowed it hole like a snake. To wash it down, Charlie chugged the entire bottle of milk. Once the milk was gone, they let out another satisfied burp of approval.

"I, uh, wow." The man scratched his tilted head. His eyes darted from side to side, wondering if anybody else saw what he was seeing. "Do you need more? I'm kind of on a budget here." 

Charlie shoved themself away from the table and stood up. "Thank you," they said as they dusted their clothes for crumbs. 

Before the man could respond, Charlie had already begun walking away. Their gait had grown a little more confident, a little more impactful. Their footprints had weight to them, as opposed to a gentle gliding from before. 

In the corner of their eye, Charlie spotted a clothesline running perpendicular to a nearby house. A shirt, some underwear, and a pair of slacks had been drying in the gentle summer breeze. Upon closer inspection of their own clothes, they realized it was time for an impromptu makeover. They snatched the clothes from the wire and ducked behind a bush, dressing in clean clothes.

However, in their haste, their arm got caught on the bush. A branch ensnared them and thrust them into the ground with a loud thump. With a face full of grass and dirt, Charlie lay there uselessly. How much easier would it be to curl up here and let death take them? Why bother running when there was nothing to run to? Charlie had nowhere to go, nowhere to be, nothing mattered. 

But the word 'running' stuck around in their mind. The word clung and clutched to their very being until a distant phrase filled their ears.

_"Bardle, run!"_

"Bardle...? Run?" Charlie's voice was strained. "Who the hell..." It took them a minute to realize that sensation wasn't a hallucination, but rather, _a memory_. Charlie almost forgot what it felt like, remembering events that happened in the past. But what good was a memory without context? 

The name felt somewhat familiar, too, like an old friend without being able to match the name to their face. Charlie theorized that, if they wanted any sort of resolution to this troublesome memory, they would need to find Bardle. Of course, this was probably much easier said than done, but Charlie felt an inner urge to know more. 

An unplaced sensation of rage stirred within them. They felt... angry? Without knowing why, or who that anger should be directed toward. It was annoying, really. It was at that moment that Charlie settled on searching for Bardle. If anyone could jog their memory, it was whoever Bardle was. They staggered to their feet with a newfound resolve. With a more solid goal in mind aside from 'eat food', Charlie felt rejuvenated. 

Their walk had grown faster and more consistent. They could feel their muscles waking up from their own slumber as well. While atrophy would take far longer to recover from than a simple meal and walk, this was more than enough of a start. 

"Must... find... Bardle..." they muttered to themself. The thought had reignited a spark within their mind, but the flame was still pitiful. Not once did they ask themself who they were or where they were. The only thing on their mind was survival. 

But now came the conundrum of a familiar name. Who was Bardle? Why did they care? Try as they might, nothing seemed to click into place. The name was familiar, yes, but not much more. They couldn't imagine what Bardle looked like. 

A sudden shock of pain struck through Charlie's head. It was so intense it caused them to wince and grab their forehead. Once they did, however, they felt an unusual sensation right at the center.

A scar? From what? When?

Charlie raced as fast as they could towards the nearest body of water. Lucky for them, there had been a small pond just outside of town. Once at the water's edge, they fell to their knees and leaned over the edge, pulling their dirtied hair back to reveal a circular scar. 

It was like a small divot in their very fur. It was relatively small, but since it was in the direct center, it felt a lot larger than it actually was. What perplexed Charlie the most was how much it had healed. Just how old was this scar anyway? Did they always have it?

These were all questions that Charlie knew Bardle would answer. They weren't quite sure how they knew she would know, but they just had a gut instinct. After all, it had gotten them this far, so why not just ride this feeling out all the way to the end? 

On the matter of feelings, they could remember one raw emotion they experienced without context. There was a faint lingering of something stirring within them, but they had no idea what emotion it was supposed to be. Was it anger? Was it disgust? Disappointment? 

It was strange. Everything had felt dulled for some reason. That on its own would be bad enough, they thought, but what made it worse was having no understanding of _why_. Why? Why, why, why, why?

Their confusion spurred them onward. Charlie began walking out of the small town and towards... well, nowhere in particular. They had no clue where to look for Bardle. She couldn't stay hidden forever, right? 

Charlie had a plan to find Bardle. There could only be so many places to look, and there were only so many populated areas. Bardle was bound to be somewhere near civilization. To Charlie's right was the beach, which meant that, unless Bardle was living on a separate island, they were somewhere on this continent. 

And so they would walk. They would hug the ocean on their right and walk along the outside. Once they completed a loop, they would spiral inwards until they cornered Bardle. How long would it take to do this? Probably a long time. But if it meant learning anything, it wouldn't be a waste. 

-

Charlie walked for hours. The sun had gone from a painful burning in the sky to a blinding light on the horizon. The salty ocean air still bit at their cheek, growing harsher by the hour. None of it mattered, though, because every step taken was another step closer to finding out more about themself. 

In the corner of their eye, they could see someone approaching. It looked to be a man hobbling towards them with fur even more dirtied than their own. Charlie stopped and waited for the man to approach. 

It didn't take long for the man to catch up to Charlie. He stumbled in front of them and grabbed at his shoulder with one hand. "Hey, the name's Calo. Got any food? I've been starving for weeks." 

Charlie shook their head. 

"Aw, come on. You gotta have something, right?" Calo pleaded.

Charlie reached into their pocket, pulling out a coin. They offered it to him with a bored stare. 

"Lemme see." Calo snatched it out of Charlie's hand and examined it. "Not a bad start," he said as he pocketed the coin. Once pocketed, he reached into his other pocket slowly. The glint of a small knife caught their eye, the blade reflecting the sunset. "Now gimme the real goods," he said, waving his knife. 

Charlie's legs began shaking from the sudden shock. Their hand trembled as it sank into their pocket, hoping to find something that would sate him. However, their pockets were empty. They couldn't stop staring at the knife that was uncomfortably close to their chest, their eyes widened. "Sorry..." they squeaked. 

"Sorry?" he asked. "Sorry's not gonna pay my bills. Now stop hoarding and hand it over!" Calo's knife grazed Charlie's chest, tearing their shirt ever so slightly. 

With one hand, Charlie reached for the handle and grabbed at Calo's wrist. They squeezed it tight, trying to get him to drop the knife, but to no avail. Their grip strength just wasn't good enough to wrestle it from his grasp. 

However, Calo had other tricks up his sleeve. Charlie's grip on his wrist felt like an infant trying to overpower him. He grabbed Charlie's wrist and twisted it, fracturing their bones in the process. 

Charlie screamed in pain as they heard their bones cracking. It sounded uncomfortably like twigs bending in half. The blinding pain brought them to their knees, grabbing at their broken wrist with their good hand. 

"Wow. Didn't expect that!" Calo shrugged. Now standing over Charlie, he outstretched his palms and shoved downward, causing a shockwave to manifest from his hands.

The shockwave pinned Charlie onto their back. Their body creaked and groaned underneath what felt like two atmospheres worth of pressure. "Nngh!" they cried out, biting down on their lip. Their teeth dug through their lips, causing them to squirt blood. 

Calo twirled his knife in his hand, swaying side to side as he crouched down next to Charlie. "Now, lemme see what you got in these pockets of yours. Better hope I find something, cause if not, I'm gonna kill you for making me waste my time," he glared at them.

Charlie couldn't help but watch Calo reach into their pockets, only to come up empty-handed. 

"Maybe you have a ring? Lemme see..." he said, grabbing Charlie's wrist. He felt beneath their furry fingers, feeling for cold metal. Lucky for him, Charlie had been wearing a small ring on their pinky finger, which he took gleefully. Now in his possession, he began to appraise it but was disappointed with his findings. "No gems, nothing fancy. This is worse than useless." He tossed the ring aside. 

Charlie could see his expression change from mild curiosity to spiteful rage. Their eyes widened as he stood back up, knife at their side. 

His hand tightened on the handle. "If there's one thing I hate, it's wasting my time." 

Calo plunged the knife downward, the tip of the blade first making contact with Charlie's shirt, then their fur, and then finally their heart. The knife dug right into their chest as if they were made of butter. 

Charlie screamed a blood-curdling cry of agony. Their body buckled and bent under the weight of the pressure holding them down as a hot burning dug through their chest. It didn't even feel like they were getting stabbed at first, even if they could see it happening. 

But the pain set in quickly. It was hot, it was sharp, it stung worse than anything they had ever experienced. The world around them grew darker by the second--or was that the sunset? Their eyes fluttered shut and their head tilted to the side as the world around them faded away. 

Calo removed the knife and wiped the blood off with his shirt. He mumbled about timewasters as he walked away from the body. It wasn't his business anymore. 

-

The sun rose once more, as it always did. The birds in nearby trees chirped their usual songs, as they always did. This sunrise was much like all the others, including the last one. 

Charlie awoke once more. Their eyes opened wide as they sucked in a sudden gasp of air. Instinctively, they sat up straight and looked all around at the landscape around them. Beach, birds, trees, and grass. It was all quite normal, but something was amiss. 

Glancing downward, they saw a small, two-inch cut in their shirt, right above the heart. There was also a thin slice across the length of their chest, but perplexingly there had been no blood. Charlie's hand snaked underneath their shirt and felt their fur underneath the tears but found no wounds, not even scars.

Which was weird, because Charlie _definitely_ remembered getting stabbed there. They could see a stocky Creaden man threaten them with a knife, and then a sudden pressure pinned them down. Next thing they knew, they were...

Dead? Did they die? Or did they just pass out from the shock? 

"No," Charlie spoke to themself. "He definitely killed me."

Something was off. People die when they are killed. So why wasn't Charlie gone? Why were they still around to remember it happening at all? In fact, how were they so sure that they even died at all? Why did they blurt that out? 0

In their very heart and soul, they felt a spark ignite. Their chest burned with a rising flame of passion and excitement. It was an unusual feeling for them; it was something they had never quite experienced before. Whatever it was, it felt good. _Really_ good. It was a high they never reached before, a feeling they never felt before. This was addictive. 

A single word echoed through their mind. 

'Affinity'.

Was this an affinity? Was this _their_ affinity? To make a mockery of nature? To refuse the natural cycle of life and death? Charlie felt as though they could take on the gods themselves like this. With newfound confidence, they took a step forward only to hear the sound of metal digging into the dirt beneath their foot.

Moving their foot aside, they found a dirt-covered ring half buried in the ground. They picked it up and dusted it off, examining it closely. It was plain looking--apparently, Calo was right--but something caught their eye. An engraving on the inside that read 'AI'--who was AI? Was AI a person or something else? Charlie decided to put the ring back on their finger, figuring it couldn't hurt to have. After all, it was one of the few possessions they had left. 

But then again, none of that mattered. Charlie remembered they were looking for Bardle. Whatever AI meant or why they can't die didn't matter. As long as Bardle was around, there would be hope. Hope for the past, hope for the future. All they had to do was walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go ahead and hate your neighbor,  
> Go ahead and cheat a friend.  
> Do it in the name of heaven,  
> You can justify it in the end.  
> There won't be any trumpets blowing,  
> Come the judgment day,  
> On the bloody morning after  
> One tin soldier rides away.


	34. Soul of Cinder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, plans are formed.

Winter was always the worst time of year to wander. If Charlie had a body that could've suffered from hypothermia, then they would have succumbed many winters ago. Instead, they march onward through the roaring blizzard among a field of soft yet punishing snow. The wind bit at their fur and kissed their lips, but not once did they shiver. They felt the cold, but their body did nothing to react to it. 

After all, what was the point? They were already dead.

The longer they walked, the closer they got to the truth. Winter snow melted and gave way to scorching summer heat. The beaches were always crowded on the hottest of days. Even among a sea of people, not a single one of them was Bardle. No one. The trail couldn't grow any colder than it already was. How was one supposed to find a woman by name alone? The only answer to that question was 'slowly'.

Summer gave way to another harsh fall, then an even harsher winter. The cycle began anew constantly and continuously, never ending and never slowing down. _It's okay_ , Charlie told themself. _Bardle is just over the next hill._

But she never was.

No town welcomed Charlie. They were a vagrant with no applicable skills to merit their existence. Then again, it wasn't like Charlie had to eat, sleep, drink, or anything at all, really. Still, the comfort of a soft and warm bed was sorely missed. Maybe someday, when this is all over, they thought. They could curl up in bed with... with...

A blank washed over their mind. They tried to imagine a warm and happy family welcoming them home, but did they ever have a home? What kind of people were their parents, if they were still alive? Did they have siblings? Aunts? Uncles? Grandparents? Significant others?

 _This wasn't fair_ , they thought. If this was their punishment, they should at least remember what grievous sin they committed. They wanted their life back. They wanted it all back, no matter the cost. But nothing in life is free--Charlie supposed the same applied to death as well. 

The question plagued them: why can they remember every death except their first? Was it a price to pay for such a powerful affinity? Did they _ask_ for this, and simply not remember doing so? The more they thought about it, the more driven they were to find Bardle. All they could think about was Bardle. But after many dead ends (some more literal than others), they were starting to lose hope. 

And yet, like a flame, hope can be reignited. The word around a nearby town was that a local pickpocket had taken up residence in an abandoned factory. Charlie couldn't remember Bardle's penchant for petty theft or the Light of Truth's preference for abandoned buildings for meetings. Deep down, however, they must've known this was a great place to check. 

Sneaking up on the door, Charlie pushed it inward. The old, abandoned wood began to creak and groan far louder than they had intended. In the distance, they could hear a faint gasp, followed by light footsteps. Someone was definitely in here, they thought. Charlie closed the door behind them and walked forward. They used to try sneaking around or staying unnoticed, but why bother when nothing can kill you? Their innate and primal fear of death was replaced by reckless indifference. 

The footsteps faded into the distance. Charlie gave chase towards the source of the noise, breaking out into a full sprint. Whoever was in there with them _definitely_ knew Charlie was here now. It didn't take long for Charlie to find a Creaden in a baggy coat running towards the window in the back. Before the Creaden could make it, Charlie tackled them to the ground. Charlie's hands wrapped around their hips, locking their legs in place and keeping them from kicking them away. 

"Let me go!" a feminine voice shrieked. She sounded tired and pained.

Charlie flipped the woman around onto her back. They stood up and planted a foot on her stomach, locking her in place. Leaning in closer, Charlie had no idea who the hell this woman was. It wasn't like they knew anything about Bardle except for her name and the fact that she was a woman. But something just felt _right_ about all of this.

"You're Bardle," Charlie pointed at her. "Who the hell am _I_?" they pointed at themself. 

The woman shushed Charlie. "Don't say that name! That's not... Wait, what?" 

"Don't make me repeat myself," they complained. "I hate that."

"...I have a lot of questions. Can you please get off of me, though? You're hurting my stomach."

Charlie stepped to the side and allowed Bardle to sit up. Once she caught her breath, Bardle stood up straight and leaned against the wall. "Anyway, I used to be Bardle, but I go by Patch now. Living out of the public eye, you know?"

"Do you know about any people who died? May have been years ago? I'm, er, asking for a friend," Charlie shrugged. 

Patch leaned forward, staring Charlie in the face. At first, they didn't even recognize them at all. It just wouldn't make sense for someone to look almost identical after... "Shanalotte?"

"Is that supposed to be my name?" they asked.

"Shan? What the... You look like hell, but also... exactly the same as you did all those years ago? What in gods' name..." Patch couldn't stop staring. It was entirely too much for her to process.

"I guess that's me. I don't really remember, so I had to find someone who did," they said.

"But you _died_ ," Patch insisted.

"I got better," Charlie shrugged again.

Patch was dumbfounded. "You don't just 'get better' from _dying_ , Shan." 

Charlie was getting tired of explaining such a simple concept. "Well, I do. _You_ don't, maybe, but that's not the point. I want to know who the hell I am. Tell me, Bar... Patch." 

Patch needed a minute to catch up to everything that just happened. Because a lot did. First of all, Shanalotte is alive. Second... Well, that's about it really. That one thing was quite important. She was staring at a literal ghost, and the ghost had no idea who the hell they were. 

"Well," she said, "I didn't know you for all that long. But you--Shan--I dunno, you were kind of a tough cookie. You were always really inspiring, I guess. You went around making all these speeches to convince people to join the Light of Truth, and--"

"Light of Truth?" Charlie asked.

"...Oh, gods. You really don't remember."

"Thought that was pretty clear by now," Charlie complained.

Patch nodded. "Right. So, the Light of Truth was this... organization, I suppose, that believed in the rights of the workers. We were both miners working long shifts for shit pay. You wanted to fight for better benefits for all of us. You and Aurora were the leaders in spirit."

Charlie thought about the name 'Aurora'. While they couldn't quite match the name to a face, something else did seem familiar. They reached into one of their pockets and pulled out the ring. "Aurora... Her last name starts with an 'I' or something?" Charlie handed the ring over.

"What the..." Patch snatched the ring and examined it closely. It matched the ring on her finger in every way except for one: the engraving on the underside. The initials on Patch's ring read 'RI' while Charlie's read 'AI'. "You really are Shan. Holy shit."

"Good to know," they nodded. "What next? What about Aurora?"

Patch handed the ring back over to Charlie. "Well, I don't know how you two met, but you always described her as sweet and caring. I'd have to agree, even though I knew her half as long as you did. Then..."

"Let me guess. She died, too, didn't she?" Charlie asked.

"...Yeah. She and her husband were murdered. We found their bodies and took their rings. I think we both promised to find her kid, but I never got the chance to. I was too busy hiding from Nortia and her damn specialists." Patch clenched her fist in frustration.

Charlie stared blankly at her.

"Right," she regained her composure. "Nortia's the sick bastard that killed us all. She rounded us all up like damn animals and shot us."

"Why?" Charlie asked.

"Because she thought we were being violent! She thought we were a danger to her Sabine as a whole. What a load of crap! She's just fucked up in the head and took it all out on us, that's what I say!" Patch barked. 

Charlie was silent at first. They waited for Patch to finish her emotional outburst before speaking. "No, I mean, why did she kill me? Why me, specifically?"

Patch was dumbfounded. "You were one of the Light of Truth, too. She killed indiscriminately." 

"That's..." Charlie trailed off.

"You saved my life. You fought off Nortia and gave me enough time to escape. I wouldn't be here without you. I guess I owe you, huh?" Patch chuckled pathetically. It was obviously less than mirthful. 

"Why'd I save you, then? Was I that kind of person?" Charlie asked.

Patch hesitated. What kind of person _was_ Shanalotte, anyway? She certainly didn't know them that well before they died. Worse yet, they've been gone for well over a decade now. Anything that happened was just a distant memory in a faraway part of her mind. "I guess you were." 

"I must've been really dumb, then. Had I known this would happen, I'd never have done it," they grumbled.

"Shan! Er, Charlie! That's..." Patch took a deep breath. "I never asked for you to do it. I... I actually wanted to help _you_ out. I--"

"Well, look how that went," Charlie interrupted. "You sure helped me out."

The room was silent. The most painful and awkward of silences festered over them like an insidious disease. Neither seemed to budge from their stance, but Patch was the first to crack. "I said I owe you, didn't I? I'll help you gain your memories back. Does that help?" Patch extended her arms outward, half shrugging.

"Obviously. Why do you think I spent years looking for you? I want to know everything. We just gotta jog my memory, right? Like amnesia?" Charlie tapped their skull.

"I don't know, but it couldn't hurt to try," Patch said.

Charlie smirked. "Well, I mean, it can't hurt _me_. You can still die like a normal person." 

"That's not helpful."

"If I ever come across as helpful, know that it was completely unintentional and I apologize in advance."

Patch squinted and rubbed their face with both hands. With one last deep breath, they exhaled gently. "Oh, gods, this is going to be fun, isn't it?" 

Charlie walked over and grabbed a nearby crate. They dragged it towards Patch and hopped on top of it. "So tell me more about this 'Nortia' person," they sat on the edge, their feet dangling over the ground. "She sounds pretty important, right? Maybe I can hunt her down?" 

"She's not hard to find; I know exactly where she is. I bet you she's got classified documents about the Light of Truth," Patch suggested.

"What about the queen? She sounds like she might know something," Charlie asked.

Patch shrugged. "I'll admit, I didn't follow what happened afterward as closely as I should've, but it sounded like Nortia was just going on her own. I think if the queen ordered Nortia to slaughter her own people, that'd be bigger news. _Someone_ would've leaked that intel. Besides, we already know Nortia was involved. Why should we chase a lead we don't know for sure will go anywhere?"

"I guess," Charlie sighed. "Plus, I bet the queen's more protected than Nortia is."

Patch nodded. "There are some... things you should know about her. Stuff I caught wind of since what happened."

"Oh?" Charlie's ears perked.

"Yeah. She's the queen's favorite. Rumor has it that Nortia wants to impress Turan as much as she can. She's ruthless, as you're probably well aware. Anything she deems a threat to the crown is dealt with faster than bullets can fly," Patch explained.

Charlie tuned out Patch's voice. They tried to picture what kind of person Nortia would look like. All they could imagine was a demon in a military uniform: someone proud, intimidating, and worst of all, calm. To Charlie, it sounded like Nortia was someone who had no conscience. She would never hesitate to carry out her plans if the ends justified the means.

Once, long ago, Charlie thought that to be the worst kind of person. But now they saw things the way Nortia must have. Peace of mind mattered more than the peace of the people. If Nortia really wanted to brown nose the queen, what better way was there than to fight in her name? 

"So the queen was in on this?" Charlie asked.

Patch shook her head. "I doubt it. Nortia's extremely paranoid. She probably caught wind of the Light of Truth and acted before Turan even knew about it." 

"How do you know she's paranoid?" 

"She never found my body. I've been on the run ever since then because she keeps sending her specialists after me. They've got no fuckin' clue where I am, but occasionally I run into them. I managed to interrogate one a few years back. Spilled the beans on a lot of Nortia's inner workings," Patch said.

Charlie's interest was certainly piqued. "Tell me more."

Patch had to sit down on the floor with her legs crossed. "So, get this. Her specialists are some of the most dangerous assassins in the country. They get tasked with some crazy shit, and if they fail, Nortia punishes them heavily. The one I interrogated said that specialists who act out of line get sent on suicide missions. She'll send them across the continent for some bullshit mission. If they come back alive, they get sent on another, and another, until they die. It's a win/win for Nortia. Either way, she gets something out of it."

Charlie shook their head. "Sadistic fuck. Tell you what, Patch: let's destroy Nortia," Charlie suggested.

"...What?"

"Let's destroy Nortia."

"I'm scared to ask what you mean by 'destroy', Charlie." 

"She doesn't deserve mercy. She took my life _and_ my death away from me. I won't rest until she regrets every choice she's ever made. I want her to beg for mercy, only to be granted none," Charlie smiled.

"Gods..." Patch could feel a knot welling in her stomach. "That's..."

"You can't judge me. This is justified," they frowned. 

"No, I'm not judging you. I just think you'll need to do a little bit more than that. It won't be as easy as it sounds to expose Nortia." 

Charlie pouted. "How come? I'm immortal, remember? Literally can't die, even if I wanted to?" 

"Because," Patch said, "Nortia has an... unconventional friend. If you want to expose Nortia, you need to expose Calum, too." 

"Who's Calum?" Charlie asked.

"The president of Catol."

Nothing could've prepared them for a statement like that. The president of Catol is friends with one of, if not _the_ most powerful generals in all of Sabine? Charlie wondered if Shanalotte would've had a lot of questions about that, but Charlie only had one. "How much does Nortia trust her?"

Patch shrugged. "No clue. But if Nortia's frantic attempts to kill me are anything to go off of, she might not trust anyone that isn't named Turan." 

"I think I've got an idea," Charlie said. "What do you say I infiltrate Nortia's military base and steal anything important I can find? Surely she's got _some_ records about the Light of Truth or even Calum herself," they suggested.

"I don't know, this seems like a bad idea." She was hesitant to agree to anything. 

Charlie spoke up. "Hear me out. I _want_ to get captured. It's like you said, right? She sends specialists on suicide missions. If she finds me, she's probably going to be so impressed that I managed to sneak into her office that she'll hire me."

"I'm not... Oh. Oh, I see. You can't die." Patch was starting to put the pieces together.

"Exactly," they grinned. "Nortia's going to start realizing that she _can't_ kill me. I want to see how she handles _that_. 

Patch wasn't convinced this plan was a good idea. "What about Calum?" 

Charlie shrugged. "What _about_ Calum?" 

"Wouldn't Calum likely have some dirt on Nortia? That sounds like something you'd want, isn't it?" Patch suggested. 

"I want to make Nortia's life a living hell. For all I care, Calum hasn't done anything wrong by me," they said.

It was at this point Patch realized just how much Charlie had changed from the Shanalotte she once knew. Shanalotte was always someone who wanted to fight for what's right, someone who would be the underdog to help people like themself. But Charlie was nothing like that. Charlie was out for revenge.

Patch wasn't entirely against Charlie's plan, to be honest. Revenge was always sweet. "I still think we should go after Calum sooner or later."

"Why?" they asked.

"Because she's a rotten leader, just like Nortia is. I know you don't remember, but before you--Shanalotte--died, you always wanted to do the right thing. Er, Shanalotte always wanted that. What am I supposed to say, here? Do I refer to you two as different people? The same?"

Charlie stared blankly. "Shanalotte's dead. You're stuck with me, now." 

Patch sighed and put her head in her hands. "Do you think you'll ever get your memories back? I kind of miss Shan." 

"That would be nice. Maybe I'll get them back once I get my revenge on Nortia," Charlie thought. 

Patch stood up and leaned against the wall. "So let me get this straight: you want to _join_ Nortia's army?"

Charlie nodded.

"So you can make her paranoid when you come back, alive, from suicide missions?"

Charlie nodded again.

"And then what?" she asked.

"Once Nortia realizes I'm unkillable, you'll publish all the dirt we've collected on her. People are gonna find out just what kind of a monster she is. Once she's lost everything, I'll kill her. Slowly." 

"...You scare me, you know that?" Patch felt a cold sweat trickle down her spine.

"Good to know." Charlie hopped off the crate and walked forward, extending their hand to meet Patch's. "What do you say, old friend? I'll do most of the work, you just have to stay alive." 

Patch hesitated at first. She took Charlie's hand in hers and shook it firmly. "Alright. I'm in." 

"I'm glad we could see eye to eye," they said before turning around to leave the warehouse. 

"Wait," Patch stopped them short. "...May the Light of Truth guide your way."

Charlie glanced back and nodded. "I don't need the light to guide my way anymore."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF ACT 3: EVEN IN DEATH


	35. Breaking Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, an escape is made.

"...And that's about it, more or less. Or, at least, that's all I can really say for certain. I cut out the parts where I wandered through the Sabinese countryside for a decade to save some time," Charlie explained.

Elric was the first to speak up. "Is there really nothing more you can tell me about Aurora or Ricard? You don't remember talking to them at all?"

Charlie shook their head. "They died before I did, so I don't remember anything about them. Patch barely met them at all, either. I'm sorry." 

"...I see." Elric was silent while he gathered his thoughts. "I still can't believe they spearheaded a rebellion like that. It seemed so unlike them. My aunt and uncle never mentioned anything about it to me or each other. Did they know?"

"I doubt it," Charlie said. "And even if they did, they wouldn't talk about it. The last thing most people want to do is incur Nortia's wrath."

Yori had a hard time taking in Charlie's story. She listened closely the entire time, but a nagging thought ate away at her the entire time. Was this all just a lie? Was Charlie just making up a story so everyone would believe them? It seemed highly unlikely that Nortia would ever act this way. "I don't know about all this..."

Charlie looked up at Yori. "What don't you get?"

"All of it. Like, I just can't wrap my head around the idea that Nortia really killed all those people; she's been so kind and thoughtful to me this whole time. It sounds like you're talking about two different people to me," she admitted. 

"Yori!" Elric gasped. "I don't think Charlie has any reason to lie to us. Besides, you know Nortia isn't exactly an angel. She jailed Charlie and forced me to work harder than everyone else." Elric held out his left hand and spread his fingers apart. The ring on his pinky finger stood out from the rest of his other fingers. "Look at this ring. You and I both know it's my mother's. Why would they have it if they were lying?"

"Because," Yori said, "it just doesn't seem right. She always told me that she believed in me, saying she saw great potential in me... I don't know what to believe." 

Charlie glared. "You sound a lot like one of Nortia's loyal dogs to me. I don't really care if _you_ believe me or not. Just don't get in my way."

"What if I do?" Yori stood up. "I'm Phantom Hawk. I can't just abandon my duty so easily." 

Charlie stood up to meet Yori's gaze. "What's your plan, then? Shoot me from a distance, then act like you care?" 

"You..." Yori huffed. Without even thinking, she punched Charlie square in the jaw. The impact knocked them back over the crate they sat on. Their body tumbled like a ragdoll until it hit the floor with a loud crash. Satisfied, Yori shook her hand and sat back down. "...Asshole." 

Calina jolted from her seat and dashed in front of Yori. "Yori! What the hell's gotten into you?" she cried.

Elric ran over and helped Charlie back onto their feet. He wiped the dust off their uniform that had been caked on when they fell. "Are you alright, Charlie?"

"Immortal. Remember?" They couldn't help but chuckle. "You must feel better after that, huh _Hawk_?" 

"I'll feel better when you shut up," Yori said.

Elric and Calina stood in between Charlie and Yori respectively. The tension in the air only grew thicker as time passed, but it was hardly mutual. While Charlie was certainly antagonizing Yori, they had no intention of actually fighting her at all. After all, why bother with a fight that you know you'd win? 

"I know what you are, Yori. You're a scared girl. You hide behind your codenames and your orders, trying not to think too much about what you've done. You don't know how to think for yourself, so you let other people do it for you. I've seen that kind of thinking over and over again. You're a spineless coward. No wonder you're one of Nortia's favorites." 

"Calina, I don't think I hit them hard enough," she whispered. 

Calina shook her head. "Don't do it." 

"You know, I bet punching me in the face was the first thing you've done on your own. How'd it feel? Wanna do it again?" Charlie egged her on. 

"What if I do?" Yori shouted.

Charlie grinned. "Then it'd be a nice change of pace, wouldn't it? You get to act of your own volition and nobody else's. You can't be Phantom Hawk forever, Yori. You can't hide from the truth that you're serving a fascist. At some point, you'll have to take responsibility for your own actions." 

Yori shoved Calina aside and approached Charlie. Elric stood between them, however. "Elric, move."

Elric spun around, shielding Charlie. "Yori, relax. I understand this might be very difficult for you, but..."

"I killed two people to save you guys! I did it because that's what Phantom Hawk _does_! That isn't something that _Yori_ does! If... if I think about how _I_ killed Zeva and Lacrimosa, it hurts so much. It's too much to bear on my own, but... But if I'm Phantom Hawk, it feels... easier." 

"Yori..." Elric trailed off. 

Yori sniffled. "I can't live with myself knowing that I killed them. I didn't even feel it when I shot Lacrimosa. It was just business as usual by that point. I don't know how I... how I... 'adjusted' so fast. I took comfort in that codename, and it made me feel... swift and decisive, I suppose."

Charlie sat down on their crate and watched Yori talk. They had nothing to say. 

"I just... I don't know what I'm doing anymore. I haven't been myself lately. I feel like I'm just reacting to things around me." She could feel herself getting lightheaded and sat down on the floor, nearly stumbling as she did. "Oh, gods..." 

Calina sat down on the ground next to Yori and hugged her tightly. Yori returned the hug immediately and dug her chin into Calina's shoulder. 

"Makes sense," Charlie admitted. "You must've been traumatized when you killed for the first time."

"Calina and I were accosted by a member of the guild. She was the one who blinded my eye and nearly killed Calina, but Yori saved us. I'm still thankful that Yori was as quick to react as she was," Elric explained. 

Charlie nodded. "Maybe I was wrong about you then, Yori. Here I thought you were just a coward, but you care about your friends. You just don't trust yourself as much as you should." 

Yori listened quietly. Words failed her for now.

"You don't have to be one of Nortia's puppets. If you want to withhold judgment until you see for yourself, then so be it. We should head back to Sabine," Charlie suggested.

"Why?" Elric asked.

"That's where Calum's going. I'll admit, I didn't focus as much on Calum as I should have, but she's definitely working closely with Nortia. I mean, think about it--Calum funded that Guild, Nortia forced miners to work overtime, there's a pattern here. They were both after the same thing."

"The gemstones?" Yori mentioned.

Charlie nodded. "They must've been looking forever for them. I didn't believe they actually existed, but here you were, sitting on them this whole time. And you brought them straight to Calum." Charlie snickered. "Maybe fate really wants to fuck us over, huh?" 

Calina interrupted. "Why do they want 'em so bad? We already saw they're useless, right?"

"They were glowing, Calina," Elric said. "Calum wouldn't have run off with them if she didn't think they were real. I'm sure she'd know better than any of us."

Yori thought to herself all the while. All this time, the answer to her anxieties had been right under her nose. She even held them in her hands, but nothing came of it. Why did they glow for Calum and not her? Yori began speculating that she just wasn't powerful enough. Maybe she didn't want it enough. Calum must've been spending years looking for the gems, so much so that she established the Guild for it. 

But how was her anxiety not proof enough that she so desperately wanted their power? "All this time, I just wanted something that made me special. Now Calum has it and I'll probably never get another chance again. It's... it's not fair." Yori clenched her fists. "Why her?! Why is she more worthy than I am?!" 

"Yori..." Calina grabbed her shoulder. "You're plenty strong on your own. You don't need no stinkin' affinity to be as cool as you are. Shit, I wish I was half as cool as you were. I thought I had an affinity--you know, that whole camouflage thing. When Calum said it was just the gems trying to hide themselves away, it made me feel like shit, too. All this time, I thought I was something special, but I was just lucky. You, though, you saved the day every time we got into some shit. That's way cooler than any affinity." 

"I don't really get how. I'm not special," Yori complained.

"Like fuck you are! You hit all sorts of crazy shots with that rifle of yours! Plus, you've been a tactical genius this whole time. I've had nothing but shitty ideas while you've been saving our skin every time. That big, sexy brain of yours is--"

"My brain is _what_?" Yori blushed.

Calina blushed a little when she realized what she said. "I, uh, I said your big, smart brain of yours is really... smart! You probably play chess all the time or something. Like, multi-dimensional chess or some shit. I don't know. My point is, I appreciate smart people for compensating for my dumb shit." 

Yori was stuck on what to say. Did Calina call her brain sexy? It was a weird thing to compliment, but... "Thanks, Calina." Yori hugged her again. 

Calina returned the hug immediately. Her arms wrapped around Yori's waist and squeezed tightly. "Aww, you smell nice. You smell like fruits or something."

Yori chuckled. "And you smell like sweat." 

Elric and Charlie shared awkward glances with each other. All of a sudden, they felt as though they were intruding on an otherwise private moment. To say they were both uncomfortable would be quite the understatement. 

"When do you think they'll admit it?" Elric whispered to Charlie.

"I'm surprised they haven't already." Charlie waited for them to settle down long enough to get a word between them. "If you two are done, we can start discussing how we're getting out of Esencia." 

Calina and Yori let go of each other. They blushed awkwardly and stepped aside so Charlie could speak. 

"In any case, we need to head back to Sabine. Calum's definitely gonna want to show Nortia the gemstones she got, so she'll be heading over there now. I think we've created enough space between us so that we'll be able to slip by undetected. We're going to make a break for the nearest train station a few cities over. I'm guessing Calum is driving there, so we'll have to drive as well."

"And where, exactly, will we get a car from?" Elric asked.

"I already have one. I've been in Esencia for weeks, now. I arranged a getaway car in case things went south, which I suppose they did. I didn't anticipate having passengers, but there should be enough seats for the four of us." Charlie turned to face Yori and Calina. "You two may have to share a seat, but I doubt you'll mind." 

Yori stammered. "I-I, well..."

Calina grinned and nodded. "You got it!" 

"I can drive," Elric suggested. 

"I'd rather drive. I don't get tired or distracted so easily." Charlie shut down Elric immediately. "Anyway, once we have the car, I'll drive us to the nearest station and we'll head straight to Propietra. We'll be hot on Calum's tail the entire time until she reaches Nortia's office. From there, we'll ambush them and take the gemstones back."

"And then...? What of Nortia and Calum? Do you plan to just kill them?" Elric wasn't sure if he felt comfortable with that.

Charlie shrugged. "I mean, I want Nortia to suffer. I'll have Patch start circulating the documents Calina found in the archives. Once word gets out that Nortia's done some nasty shit, she'll start panicking. She'll be a lot easier to deal with if she's a paranoid mess." 

Yori sighed. "None of the documents you guys found in the archives even mention Nortia, do they? I thought they were just about Calum and Lacrimosa." 

Charlie reached into the duffel bag and pulled out a small dossier, slapping it onto the ground. It seemed innocuous enough at first glance. The folder had been labeled "budget plans" in black pen on the front. Elric picked it up and flipped through it, his eyes widening when he saw pictures of Nortia among all the pages. 

"Coded journals. Calum must be a little paranoid herself. Not only did she keep a dossier on Nortia, but she also hid it as best as she could. I bet Calum had this ready to go in case Nortia decided to double-cross her. Considering Nortia sent me to spy on her, I'm betting this feeling is mutual." 

"Wow, it must suck being this paranoid all the time. Can't even trust your own friends? What kinda life is that?" Calina struggled to imagine living like that. 

"In any case, I think we're all clear on the plan, yes?" 

Elric, Yori, and Calina nodded in approval. 

"Alright," Charlie said. "Let's get out of here."

Charlie stood up and escorted everyone out of the sewers. The road ahead would be long, but if Charlie's plan worked, this could all be over shortly. All they had to do was trust each other. 

-

Calum had stopped at a telephone booth. She assured her driver that there was no need for any bodyguards to escort her. It was just a simple, confidential phone call, she said. There was nothing to worry about. Once Calum was in the booth, she closed the door and dialed a familiar number. The phone rang twice. "General Nortia here."

"Ah, Nortia, lovely to hear your voice," Calum said. "It's been ages, hasn't it?" 

"A pleasant surprise, indeed. Have you made any progress towards our shared goal?" she asked.

Calum was practically beaming, not that Nortia could tell, however. "I've got some good news and bad news, I'm afraid. The first is that I've managed to secure the gemstones. You know the ones."

Nortia's interest was piqued. "And how do you know they're real?" 

"They glow in my hands. It's so pretty, you should see for yourself. I'm coming now. I'll be there as fast as the next train can take me," Calum was giddy. 

"And you said there was bad news? Have you been made?" Nortia asked.

Calum gulped. "Well, it's not exactly that. You see, I happened across one of your specialists. They were snooping around my office and my archives. Worse yet, they had friends. I heard a gunshot after I managed to escape, but I think Lacrimosa is no longer of this world." 

"My condolences. I'm sure he was invaluable." 

"You need to understand, something. I'm not even mad that you sent your people to spy on me. That's just being pragmatic. What I _am_ mad about is that you sent a demon from hell after me. What is wrong with you, Nortia?" Calum huffed.

Nortia blinked slowly in confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

"You mean you don't know? That... that thing. The one in gray. I saw them get stabbed in the throat and they didn't die. Lacrimosa even threw them in the incinerator! Then they came back and tried to _kill me_! What the hell is wrong with you? I almost died!" 

Nortia had been completely flabbergasted. "Specialist Charlie... Hmm, that is indeed a problem. I can assure you I had no idea they were so resilient. This isn't good."

"Tell me about it! I managed to run away, but gods help us if they catch up." Calum shuddered to imagine what Charlie would do to her.

"I suppose I could send some of my people to apprehend my little demon spawn, then," Nortia admitted.

Calum wasn't satisfied with just that. "You have three others you need to round up, too. Two of your soldiers and a rambunctious thief. The sooner you send your soldiers after them, the better. Lacrimosa said his thieves had difficulty handling all of them." 

Nortia smirked. "Oh, don't worry. I've got the best of the best at my disposal. I'll send two of my most elite right now. They should intercept Charlie before they catch up."

"You're sending two people after four?" Calum asked.

"I know three of the four people, here. The duo I'm sending out now can't be dealt with via conventional means. I know my own soldiers' strengths and weaknesses better than they know themselves. This should be over before it even begins," Nortia reassured.

Calum shook her head. "I don't know. You've been wrong before."

Nortia chuckled. "If anything, they should at least slow them down. You'll have plenty of time before they can even think about being a thorn in our sides. As long as you bring those stones here, we'll be unstoppable." 

"Alright..." Calum sighed. "I'll see you soon." 

"I look forward to your arrival. Goodbye." Nortia hung up the phone. 

The dial tone droned in Calum's ear before she hung the phone back on the receiver. She stepped out of the booth and returned to her car. The driver turned around and glanced at her. "Had a good chat, madam president?"

She nodded. "I did."

"Who did you talk to, if I may ask?"

"Let's just say she's... an old friend," Calum smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF ACT 3: EVEN IN DEATH


	36. Heaven Bent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, a conference is held.

11 years ago.

The election was a significant landslide for Calum Algolin. The exit polls predicted a 70% chance that she would win the election, and in the end, she had won 85% of the votes. Catolese citizens were swayed by her promises for bettering their country and bringing them into the future.

For years before the election began, there had been reports of scattered criminal activity all throughout the region. Purses were stolen, pockets were picked, and houses were broken into. One incident is an isolated event, but multiple robberies across a long period of time were no longer so simple.

Arrests couldn't be made fast enough to stop all the thefts. Calum swore that she would be the president to end the Thieves' Guild for good. Of course, many politicians could make broad claims with little evidence to back it up. But Calum had something no other presidential candidate did: Lacrimosa.

Being closely acquainted with the very leader of the Guild had its own perks. Calum leveraged Lacrimosa to stage fake heists to convince the voters that she had intimate knowledge of the Guild's inner workings. The average person was easily swayed by Calum's seemingly infinite knowledge and foresight.

And so, Calum was elected president of Catol. Her inauguration went about as smoothly as it could. She went through the standard procedure of swearing into office, making a long speech about how humbled yet proud she was, and so on. The usual business.

One of the standard procedures was for the newly elected president to meet with the queen of Sabine. Calum knew this was coming but couldn't help feeling anxious anyway. One false move and another war could start up all over again, however unlikely that scenario may be. It felt more real in Calum's head. 

It wasn't particularly hot outside today, but in her office, it felt a lot like a furnace. She had never felt so nervous she started sweating before. Had she been anyone else, she may have stepped down outright. But, in her mind, she had one goal: the unity of all people. If meeting this goal meant suffering through a few panic-attack-inducing meetings, then so be it.

She tapped her fingers rhythmically against her desk with her head in her other hand. Her fingers grazed her bundled up hair gently, sifting between the strands like silk. A cold sigh escaped her throat as she slowed her breathing. In her mind, she counted breaths in and out until she could feel her heartbeat slow. 

This was a position she knew she didn't necessarily deserve, but she justified it in her mind as just a means to an end. The people believed in her. She had a goal to meet before people find out her ties to the Thieves' Guild. The clock was beginning to tick, and with every tock, she needed to be that much closer to uniting the masses.

If she failed, there would be no telling how long until someone discovers the legendary gemstones.

A knock broke the silence, echoing from the large, mahogany door at the other end of the office. It jolted Calum awake from her own delirious, sleep-deprived thoughts. Pushing away her chair and dusting herself off, Calum stood up and strolled towards the door. She sighed and twisted the knob, expecting to bow to the queen. Instead, she was greeted by someone else entirely.

"My name is General Nortia of the standing army of Sabine. Queen Turan has requested I investigate your office to ensure her safety before she enters. May I come in?" 

The woman standing before Calum seemed legitimate enough. She was hardly a queen, but she was certainly a general. Her proud stance, her rich, navy uniform with a long, flowing cape and matching hat. The golden accents adorned the buttons and zippers on her outfit, complementing the red belt around her waist. The hat and cape were hardly regal, but they certainly demanded respect. But did they demand Calum's?

"This isn't how it usually goes, is it?" Calum asked nervously.

Nortia sighed. "It is not, but with the recent rise in Thieves' Guild activity, I suggested going the extra mile. After all, what kind of bodyguard would I be if I didn't risk life and limb for my queen?" she asked, knowing full well her question was rhetorical. 

"Alright..." Calum stepped aside, allowing Nortia entry. "She's here, though, right?"

Nortia nodded and walked inside. "Indeed. She'll enter once I guarantee there are no threats to her wellbeing in this room." 

Calum thought Nortia to be one paranoid general, but maybe paranoia came with the position. Perhaps being a general almost required a permanently-attentive, overly-cautious mind. Something about her rubbed Calum the wrong way, however. "Make yourself at home, General Nortia," she said, closing the door.

Ignoring Calum, Nortia walked straight towards the wooden chair facing Calum's desk. She sat down and waited patiently for Calum to return to her desk. "We have something to discuss, you and I." 

"...I don't recall opening talks with generals being listed as a--"

"It's about Lacrimosa," Nortia interrupted.

"...You certainly get straight to the point, don't you?" Calum sat down at her desk, her attention grabbed by Nortia's words. Her hand reached beneath her desk subtlely as she spoke. "Oh, Lacrimosa? You mean that dreaded Thieves' Guild leader?"

Nortia nodded again. "Yes, the very same. We recently captured him as he entered Sabinese territory. We already had warrants out for his arrest, but he waltzed right into our hands. It was almost pitiful, really." 

Shit, shit, shit, shit. "Will... will you extradite him to Catol so we may hold his trial here? I mean, I believe he's a Catolese citizen, isn't he?" 

"I should think not. We know that the Thieves' Guild, while small, still holds enough influence that transporting Lacrimosa would prove dangerous. It's likely that one of his followers will attempt to rescue him," Nortia said.

Calum needed to think of an excuse quickly. Holding Lacrimosa captive could spell disaster for Calum and her plans. "With all due respect, General Nortia, but you command an entire army. Does the Thieves' Guild intimidate Sabine so much that they cannot even transport a member of the Guild across the continent?" 

Nortia huffed. "I think you're severely underestimating our military prowess, madam president. But more importantly, you're underestimating the reach of the Guild. In the last three years alone, Guild incidents have increased 500% across the entire continent. Either they're getting overconfident or their numbers are growing. This is a problem that must be dealt with swiftly and decisively."

"I see. Catol does not have the military resources to spare to aid your cause. We're victims of the Guild as well," Calum said, dismissively. 

Nortia stood up and pushed her chair aside. She reached to her side and wrapped her fingers around the holster strapped to her thigh. A sleek, easily concealed pistol appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She pointed the silenced barrel at Calum's chest and scoffed. "I think you have something to hide, madam president. You _will_ allow me to examine your office in greater detail." 

Calum instinctively held her hands above her head. "This is--you can't do this! This is violating--"

"Save your breath, unless you wish for it to be your last." Nortia began sidestepping around the desk, her pistol constantly and calmly trained on Calum's chest. "I think I'll start with your bookshelf," she said, walking until she could graze each book with her free hand. One by one, she investigated the contents of each book with her free hand, glancing away from Calum only when absolutely necessary. 

Calum's breathing grew shallower by the minute. Never would she have thought this would be how her day would go. It felt as if her worst anxieties had suddenly been realized. It was bad enough being held at gunpoint, but the worst part was yet to come. 

She had left damning evidence on the bookshelf in her haste. All she could do was hope that Nortia doesn't see it.

"You're awfully well organized for your first day." Nortia's compliment was shallow. As she went to reach for another book, one tumbled off the shelf and onto the floor. Some papers that had been carelessly slipped between the pages spilled out. "Oh? What have we here?" Nortia bent down slowly to pick up the paper and read it aloud. "This appears to be some sort of budget document." 

"I don't think you'll be able to understand it," Calum bluffed. "Budgeting is awfully complicated with obtuse jargon and--"

"I can see there's a sort of black hole here. Money comes in and then... disappears. You don't exactly need a degree in finance to understand embezzlement, madam president." 

Calum gulped. "I beg your pardon? Are you accusing me of embezzlement? That's quite the leap in logic." 

Nortia approached Calum and slammed another paper down on the desk. Not once did the gun stray from Calum's chest. "It appears you've been careless with your paperwork. This is a manifest for items to be delivered to nobody in particular." Nortia began listing off all the items one by one. "Rations, spare clothes, firewood, brass knuckles, binoculars, a _katana_ , among other things... This is quite the shopping list."

Calum knew better than to try and deny embezzlement at this point. However, if she admitted to the smaller crime of stealing money than the much larger crime of indirectly supporting the Thieves' Guild, she might be able to win the people's trust again. "I'm an eccentric billionaire at heart," she blurted out.

Nortia squinted at her. "Greed stains a person's heart black. It's a disease." 

"Greed is what destroyed this world, General Nortia. I seek only to repair it in any way that I can," Calum's voice wavered. 

"Repair this world...?" Nortia approached Calum until the barrel of her pistol pressed against her chest. "Explain yourself." 

Of all the defenses in the world to say, Calum never thought this would pique Nortia's interest. Now that the words escaped her throat, she had to follow up. Obviously, Calum had no reason to trust Nortia, but she had to say something to convince Nortia not to expose her right then and there. "The legendary gemstones are real. I want them so that we can restore faith in this world."

"The legendary gemstones? You mean the ones the gods made?" Nortia asked. "What does this have to do with embezzling money?"

"I--"

"Don't answer that. I already know you're working with Lacrimosa." Nortia let herself chuckle just a little. "You must be desperate to protect your involvement with the Guild if you're admitting to stealing money immediately. But tell me more about these legendary gemstones. I'm curious about what you know that I do not."

Calum refused to speak. 

Nortia pressed the silencer against Calum's neck. "I've killed dissenters for the glory of Sabine. Don't think I won't pull the trigger on you." 

"...Did you kill Lacrimosa, too?" Calum asked.

"No," Nortia replied. "He gave me valuable intelligence. In return, I gave him his life. I'm not unreasonable, madam president, just... efficient."

If there was ever a time in Calum's life that she needed to bluff, this was it. Everything could go up in smoke if she didn't sate Nortia's appetite for knowledge. "Have you brushed up on your history books, general? How familiar are you with the legends of the gods?"

Nortia narrowed her eyes. "They're legends. I know the gods supposedly left behind gemstones that contained their concentrated power, but no one has ever recovered them. They granted affinities, correct?" 

"What if they really existed? What if we could make right what once went wrong?" Calum suggested. 

"And how do you know they're real?" Nortia asked again. 

"Affinities didn't appear by themselves. No other species aside from Creaden or Simenti have exhibited such behavior. It's true that all we have are records to go off of, but I suppose you just need to believe that they're real. There's no proof that the gems _don't_ exist. I've come to the conclusion, long ago, that they exist." 

Nortia stepped back from Calum. "You must think me for a fool if I believe you for a second, madam president." 

"No, I do not think of you as a fool, General Nortia. I'm the one risking my career by entertaining your demands." 

Stunned silence. Nortia had no comment.

"Sabine's primary export is gemstones, is it not, good general? From what I understand, Sabine recently increased their gemstone export. It sounds to me like I'm not the only one who believes in the legends," Calum suggested. 

"Sabine's export has _always_ been gemstones. Your accusations are unfounded," she scoffed. 

"But is it? If we're airing our dirty laundry to each other, I think it should be mutual. What dark secrets lurk within you, general?"

"You're hardly in any position to ask, Calum," Nortia grumbled. "I have you exactly where I want you."

Calum snickered. "Perhaps you should reconsider your position. I suggest you investigate my desk?" 

Nortia squinted at Calum and shoved her aside. She kicked away Calum's chair and knelt down, pulling drawers open haphazardly. "There's nothing here." 

"Underside of the top board," Calum said.

Nortia tilted her gaze upward and saw a tape recorder strapped to the underside of her desk. The faint sound of tape being reeled through the spinning wheels echoed in Nortia's ears louder than any gunshot ever could. Calum had set her up from the very start. "You were recording this whole time," Nortia realized.

Calum strolled past Nortia and tapped the pause button on the tape recorder. "I never admitted having ties to Lacrimosa or the Guild since you entered this room. You, on the other hand, admitted to killing your own people. Oh, and don't think about overpowering me to take this tape. It's designed to slip through a hole in the floor should an emergency happen."

Nortia began panting with rage. As much as she wanted to put a bullet in Calum's brain right then and there, she was in no position to jeopardize her career. She holstered her pistol and stepped away from the desk. "You are certainly making my job harder, I'll give you that, madam president." 

"The best defense any president has is information. I have more information than you do, so I hold the power here."

"I have a _gun_."

Calum took her place at her desk. "And I have sway over you. Please, take a seat. Tell me why you're so intrigued by my relationship with the Thieves' Guild." Calum extended her hand outward towards the chair facing her desk. 

Nortia folded her arms and walked over to the chair. Once she was sitting comfortably, she leaned forward. "I've read the legends. The gemstones have to exist. I'm a lot like yourself, you see. I'm quite religious and spiritual." 

"Is that so?" she was unconvinced. 

"You said it yourself, madam president: this world needs repairing. I believe that, erm, this world needs to be reminded of the gods. We lost our faith in each other and that's why the gods disappeared. And the gemstones, too."

"Do you really believe that?" Calum asked.

Nortia paused to think. "Indeed. You see, I am the one who spearheaded Sabine's increased gemstone export. Each general oversees a sector of the mines. My sector is the most efficient of them all, but most importantly, I examine every single gemstone that leaves Sabine. I grew up thinking the same thing you did: this world lacks faith. We have such a... such a lack of appreciation for history. The gods must have left because we stopped being grateful for their generosity." 

Calum nodded along to all of Nortia's words. It felt like, for the first time since Calum met Lacrimosa, she was beginning to relate to someone. Perhaps Nortia was trustworthy after all. A little crude and intimidating, but she could make for a powerful ally. If they shared goals as Nortia claimed, then perhaps this would be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Nortia was right. This world lacked faith. The gods disappeared because nobody believes in them anymore. Not even the legendary gemstones, the pure concentration of their power, could exist in this world so long as faith did not. If the gemstones were to return, it would be proof positive the gods existed. Better yet, it would prove that the gods really did love this world. 

The stories swirled around in Calum's mind. The gods created this world out of love. There was too much violence and negativity in this world--Calum remembered it all too well. Studying to become a politician forced her to confront uncomfortable realities. She remembered studying night after night about wars around the continent. Such death and destruction, it was too much for her to bear. 

This world didn't need to be ruled with an iron fist, what it needed was faith in the gods. In the darkest of nights, in the most painful of hours, only the gods can save everyone's souls. This was what Calum believed. She couldn't stop imagining a world where affinities were freely distributed, like in the legends of days gone by. How could anyone feel despair or hatred when they were blessed by the gods themselves? 

"...I think this world needs a lot more generosity than it does selfishness. Don't you agree, madam president?" Nortia asked.

Calum snapped out of her stupor. "I-Indeed. I'm so glad we can see eye-to-eye. This world needs salvation now more than ever." 

Nortia smirked. "Excellent. To start off this new world order properly, I think I'll extend my hand in gratitude. I will not be holding you at gunpoint any longer out of the kindness of my own heart. Instead, I will release Lacrimosa, but only conditionally." 

"You will...?" Calum asked.

"Yes, but I need you to do a few favors for me. You're powerful and influential, so it should hardly prove a problem. The first is that this arrangement between us must stay classified. This includes any officers you may have or even my own queen," Nortia said.

"Turan isn't in on this?"

"No. As I've said before, I've done some... arguably reprehensible acts in the name of peace. This will not fall on Turan's head, but rather my own. In the unlikely event that I get caught for my crimes, then Turan will not be blamed." 

"Wow," Calum said. "You are incredibly loyal to your queen."

"As a general should be," Nortia promised. 

"Do you have any other demands, general?" Calum questioned.

She nodded. "I will have to appear to be fighting the Thieves' Guild at every opportunity, but know that no harm will come to them. This is to maintain my image, you see. We cannot exactly have a general who appears weak," Nortia suggested. 

"If only all political discussions went this smoothly..." Calum reminisced about having simple conversations without any subtext. "I agree wholeheartedly. I am beyond satisfied to know someone else in this world shares my ideals." 

"Likewise, madam president. I am so glad we could resolve this situation amicably. We will work together to uncover the legendary gemstones as if our very careers depended upon it," Nortia said.

"You mean as if the _world_ depended on it, right?" Calum asked.

"Oh, silly me. Of course," Nortia smiled wryly. 

Calum shifted in her seat. "This is all for our salvation, General Nortia. This is not for glory or for power."

Nortia excused herself and stood up. "This is for the glory of our people--not for you or me as individuals. I'll be in touch, madam president."

"Please, call me Calum in private," she insisted.

Nortia turned towards the door and exited as abruptly as she entered. The office fell silent once again, and Calum couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. As far as negotiations went, this one could have been a lot worse. While it didn't quite go as she anticipated, it was certainly not a disaster. 

She felt she could trust Nortia, at least somewhat. However, knowing her type, it would be wise to have a contingency plan anyway. The political world was full of duplicitous people, Calum imagined the military world to be no different. 

The door swung open once more, but instead of a paranoid general, a proud and elegant queen entered. Calum admired Turan's long and flowing robes. The deep indigo complemented her golden crown studded with gemstones. It was all so befitting of a vain leader. The cape was the vainest of all of her accessories. Not that she would ever admit this to Turan, of course. Half of politics is amicability. 

"President Calum. It's quite the honor to set foot in your wonderful office. I should hope my office is half as pleasing to the eye as your own," Turan said.

Calum grinned warmly. "Queen Turan, your majesty, the pleasure is all mine." She stood up and bowed before the queen.

"Now, now. There's no need to bow to me. Here, we are equals," Turan insisted. 

Turan and Calum took their seats. 

"You're right, Queen Turan. Today marks the beginning of a long and trusting relationship between the two of us." Calum glanced quickly at Nortia standing in the doorway, then returned her gaze to Turan. 

"For the glory of our people."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nothing says fascist quite like "for the glory of [insert thing to be fascist about here]"


	37. Old Friends for Sale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, friends are sold.

It was raining by the time Elric, Yori, Calina, and Charlie arrived at the train station. Charlie grumbled as she parked the car on the side of the road, knowing full well they'd never return to it. It was a waste, but they had bigger fish to fry. 

Yori admired the train station from afar. It had seemed just as busy--if not more--than the one they departed from in Sabine. There was no doubting this was the largest station in the northern half of Catol. Hundreds of soon-to-be passengers hurried along paved paths to and fro, many of them huddled under umbrellas for cover. 

A large schedule had been hung up on a nearby brick wall. Elric walked up to it and ran his finger down the timetable as he searched for the next train's departure. "Looks like the next train arrives in a few minutes. If we hurry, we can make it on board," he said.

"Do you think we'll have to pay?" Yori asked.

Calina shrugged. "We can always sneak on if we gotta. I mean, I did last time." 

Charlie ignored the rest and walked straight into the station. They bumped past the crowd of people until they reached the ticket booth. A Simenti man who looked as old as he did tired sat on the other side of the booth, letting a nonstop stream of sighs escape his throat. "How many?" he grumbled.

In lieu of money, Charlie slapped their pistol onto the booth. "Four." 

The man sighed yet again. "I don't get paid enough for this shit..." Without any further 'persuasion', he printed four tickets and passed them to Charlie. 

Charlie grabbed both the tickets and their gun. "Let's go," they waved at the rest of the group. 

Together, the four of them continued onto the platform and walked down the path. A large and proud steam locomotive lay idle at the station, spewing clouds of steam from behind the wheels and onto the platform. Yori thought it looked like they were walking on a cloud. As an upgrade from their last train ride, the four were granted regular passenger seats. No more uncomfortable caboose seats for them. 

Calina dashed into the car first. She found their seats somewhat disappointing, believing they were just glorified benches with cushions. In her mind, she believed that they were meant for a single person only. After all, why wouldn't these seats be intended for one person to lay down on? 

And so, she dashed into a seat meant for two and lay on her back, her hands folded behind her head. "Ah," she exhaled. "Nice."

Elric, Yori, and Charlie were not far behind. Charlie was fine with any seat, so long as a dual-wielding buffoon was not already in the way. They chose to sit across from Calina in the seat facing hers. Before Yori could steal the only other open seat, Elric sat down next to Charlie. This left Yori with two options: stand the whole time or get Calina to sit up straight. 

"Hey, Calina...?" Yori poked at her head. "Can you move, please?"

"Nuh uh. If you wanna sit here, lay down on top of me," she shook her head.

Yori leaned forward and grabbed Calina by the shoulders. She hoisted her up just far enough for her to sit down (somewhat) comfortably. Predictably, Calina refused to sit up straight like a normal person. Her head flopped down and landed flat on Yori's lap as she stared upward at Yori's face. "Hey, girl," she winked. 

"Hey, yourself," Yori began stroking Calina's hair. 

Charlie coughed, breaking Yori and Calina out of their shared reverie. "Sorry, I still have coal dust in my throat."

Elric thrust the duffel bag onto the floor between their seats. Having grown accustomed to watching public displays of affection, he quietly shut his eyes and attempted to rest. This was definitely not of his business; he knew better than to interfere. 

The train departed not long after he closed his eyes. A loud whistle and a whoosh of steam shooting out from the engine signaled a slow acceleration. The faint chugging and churning of wheels against rails soon quietly echoed the cabin. Steam, metal clanking against metal, and bustling wood flooded the car with ambiance. 

Yori and Calina wanted to flirt more, but the gentle rocking of the cabin made them both yawn. Calina was the first to succumb; she closed her eyes and began snoring loudly and obnoxiously. Elric was startled awake, glaring down at Calina and staring at Yori in silent anger. Grinning awkward, Yori covered Calina's mouth gently with her palm, somewhat muffling her snores while avoiding suffocating her.

Charlie stared out the window to their left. The Catolese countryside soon gave way to the grassy plains of the neutral territory. With the Thieves' Guild more or less handled, there shouldn't be anything stopping their progress now. The duffel bag on the floor held everything they needed to slander Nortia and, by extension, Calum. Nortia was their only priority, however. Calum was just a bonus. 

"Hey," Elric nudged Charlie. "Are you asleep?"

Charlie shook their head. "No."

Elric paused. "So... Nortia really killed my parents? You're certain?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Is that why you gave me Aurora's ring?" Elric asked. 

"...Yeah. I know that I don't have much to tell you about them, but... I thought you'd appreciate it," Charlie admitted.

Elric leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. "You know, I had joined this army because I wanted to protect Yori, but that isn't all. I... I always suspected foul play with my parents' death. I thought that maybe I could gain some answers through the army. I never thought it'd be like this, however."

Charlie turned to face him. "I'll make Nortia pay. That is a promise, I can assure you." 

"I'm having trouble deciding what I want to do with Nortia..." he sighed. "I don't believe in murder for any reason, but..."

"But...?" Charlie asked.

"...When I see her again, I may not hesitate." A chuckle escaped his throat. He wasn't smiling, however. "It's funny--I never thought I'd want this. I'm imagining Nortia suffering for her crimes, and it makes me feel... joyful. I never imagined myself to be the vengeful type." 

Charlie patted his shoulder. Words failed them. 

Elric sniffled and turned his head towards Charlie. "Am I as bad as Nortia if I want to see her suffer? I believe the law can be just, but I... I would enjoy seeing her beg for mercy."

"No, not at all. Nortia murdered indiscriminately. You just want justice for a crime. There's nothing wrong with that, Elric," they reassured him.

"I see..." he trailed off. 

Meanwhile, Yori stared down at Calina and gently stroked her hair. Calina looked so peaceful, Yori thought. It had been a while since they all had a peaceful and quiet rest, or at least, that's what it felt like. How could time feel so slow yet move so fast? A single tear dripped from Yori's eye onto Calina's cheek. It caught both of them off guard: Calina didn't expect it and Yori didn't realize she was crying either. Calina sat up and wiped the tear from her face. 

"You alright, Yori?" Calina looked concerned. 

"I think so," Yori wondered. 

Calina rested her head back on Yori's lap and stared upward. "It's okay if you aren't. We've been through hell."

"Yeah..." Yori resumed stroking Calina's hair. It was smooth and fun to touch. "I just want this to be over. I have this awful knot in my stomach--like someone twisted my intestines into a balloon animal." 

"Well, as the leading authority on getting your insides scrambled, I can confirm that fuckin' hurts," Calina grinned. 

Yori gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean--"

"Nah, don't worry. I'm not mad or anything," Calina chuckled. "Anyway, tell me more. You gotta vent it all at some point, right?" 

"I suppose you're right. I'll talk only after you tell me how you're doing, though. Okay?" Yori said. 

Calina sighed. "Fine, fine, you win. I can't say no to that pretty face of yours." 

Yori blushed. 

Calina sat up straight and leaned her head against Yori's shoulder. "I just wanna go somewhere quiet. I liked my little tent in the woods; nobody bothered me and I got to live how I wanted. 'Course, I can't have nice things, can I? Lacri made sure of that." 

"Calina..."

"He kinda ruined my life, didn't he? He may as well have been my dad, but after all this time, I find out it was his fault, to begin with. He made me an orphan, he made me work in the Guild, and he sent my own friends after me. I thought... I thought the Guild was my family, for so long," she huffed. "I guess my point is, it sucks. This whole thing sucks." 

"I'm so sorry. I feel like it's somewhat my fault. I _did_ kill him. I just hope you got whatever closure you needed from him," Yori sniffled. 

"There's nothing he could've said that would've helped. Knowing that basically my entire life just lie after lie isn't fixed by a few sweet words. Now that I know Lacri was just taking orders from Calum, I feel like we gotta stop her, you know? As much as I'd love to just run away again, I can't rest while she's still out there," Calina said.

"I wonder if he really was a good person before Calum got him involved in this whole Guild business..." Yori wondered. "Maybe he was. The only person who can really decide that is you, now."

"I guess. But that's enough about me. How 'bout you, girl?" Calina prodded.

"Alright, fine, I can talk about myself for a while." Yori leaned her head back against her seat. "Honestly? After all this time, I'm starting to realize I haven't been faithful to myself. Like, I don't think I've been acting in my own best interest, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, like, I always kind of just did things because people told me to, or because I was 'supposed' to do them. When I graduated from school, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I heard the army would be recruiting, and since I had a sniping hobby, I thought it would only be natural. I could get ordered around _and_ indulge in my special interest," she explained. 

Calina nodded quietly.

"I didn't really have a purpose in life. You, Elric, Charlie, you're all so... so _driven_. So _motivated_. Nothing really got me going as much as you guys. I started thinking there was something wrong with me, and especially with the whole Zeva incident, I really felt like I was about to lose myself. Part of my identity, if not all of me, I felt like I was going to _become_ Phantom Hawk. A cold-blooded killer who serves under dictators. That isn't what I want, and I really wish it didn't take me this long to figure that out." 

"Life ain't a race, you know. It's not--"

"I know, Calina. I think the worst part is that I know what my limits are. I can kill people in self-defense and barely even feel it anymore. I don't want anyone to hurt me or my friends. I guess you've seen that side of me twice now, so it shouldn't be surprising. It's a part of me I'm very conflicted about. On the one hand, I've saved you and Elric twice now. On the other hand, I've sacrificed two others. But I think I would do it again to save you two. After all, _someone_ has to make the tough decisions. I don't want blood on your hands. Let me handle it," Yori sighed after she finished.

"Are you sure? This sounds like a lot to bear," Calina said.

"I'm sure. From now on, I'll trust my instincts and mine alone. I'm not Nortia's pet, I'm not Phantom Hawk, I'm Yori Bellevoir. And Yori protects her friends no matter what." 

Calina smirked. "You know, I can't really rely on many people, but I can think of _one_ person."

"And who might that be? Can you tell me more about them?" Yori asked.

Calina smirked. "Well, they're beautiful, smart, and they give a shit about me when nobody else does. Plus, they have a nice sense of fashion, unlike their friend."

Yori nodded. "You think Charlie's beautiful?" 

Calina shot up in her seat and stared at Yori. "Bwuh?! What? No! I mean, not... not in that way. I wasn't talking about Charlie!" 

"Oh. So, who _were_ you talking about, then?" Yori tilted her head.

Calina buried her face in her hands. "Don't make me say it out loud. I'm gonna die of embarrassment." 

"Wait..." The implication struck Yori in the face like a baseball bat. "No... No way. Me?" 

"Why is it so hard to believe?!" Calina blushed furiously, her face tinted a dark blue. "We fucking kissed in the hospital! I thought it was obvious I had a big-ass crush on you, but maybe I was being too subtle!" 

"No way." Yori froze up. "You have a crush on me? Oh, my gods." She began to blush as well, covering her face with her hands. "I really had no idea!"

Both of them buried their face in their hands. They refused to look at each other in their shared embarrassment. However, Calina was the first to break away from the comforting sight of her own palms and stared at Yori. "So, I guess you don't have a crush on me, then? That's fine. I getcha." 

Yori slowly pried her hands away. "What? I didn't say I didn't. I mean, er, I never said that I don't have a crush on you! I do!" She clapped her hands in front of her mouth after blurting out her confession. 

Calina stared blankly. Then, she began to chuckle. Her chuckle turned into a mad cackling, catching the attention of everyone in the car. She settled down and took a deep breath. "If we survive the next few days, wanna go hang out somewhere? Maybe a restaurant? Then your place? Or maybe you wanna check out my tent in the woods," she suggested.

"Wait, wait, hold on. This is moving a little fast, don't you think? I mean, that sounds fun and all, but let's just make sure we get to Sabine safely! But, uh... I think that would be really nice, actually," Yori blushed.

Calina clapped her hands together. "Great! Kiss on it?" She leaned in and puckered her lips. 

Yori watched Calina climb closer, ready to kiss. Gods, her lips looked so great. Try as she might, nothing could stop her from returning the kiss. Yori leaned in and kissed Calina, melting into her desires. Her eyes closed softly as she lost herself in the moment. 

Elric and Charlie had been staring uncomfortably at Yori and Calina for far longer than they should have. Their own heart-to-heart had ended long ago, and it wasn't like Yori and Calina were particularly subtle about anything, ever. Elric was certain that 'quiet' was a forbidden phrase in Calina's vernacular. 

Charlie thought they looked like two mannequins being shoved against each other by two puppeteers. Their lips haphazardly rubbed against one another; clearly, they were both inexperienced. They physically reeled when they saw Calina grab Yori's shoulder and tug on her shirt. "Is it too late to lock them in the caboose?" Charlie whispered to Elric.

"I should hope not. I don't think I can stand to witness this for sixteen hours straight," he groaned. 

Anywhere else in the world was far more appealing to stare at than the snog festival happening right in front of them. Charlie leaned back and stared out of the window again, admiring the scenery. The sun had just started poking out between the clouds, dispelling the dreary rainy haze that covered the entire land. The train's shadow cast along the field running alongside the tracks. It was a little mesmerizing, Charlie thought. Normally they didn't get a chance to appreciate the simpler things when retribution was their sole train of thought. 

But something caught their eye. An abnormal shape jutted out from the roof of the car just above them. They could tell because of the tall shadow cast on the ground outside the window. It was difficult to tell what it was, but Charlie knew it didn't belong there.

And then the shadow moved. 

Before they knew it, the window shattered in front of Charlie. A hand reached into the car and grabbed them by the forearm and began tugging them out of the window. Try as they might, Charlie attempted to resist but to little avail. They were sucked out of the window and thrown onto the roof of the train car before anyone else nearby could react.

Elric, Yori, and Calina had stopped and heard the glass shatter, but Charlie was already gone before they could even react. Elric, against his better judgment, stuck his head out of the newly shattered window and glanced around frantically. "Charlie didn't fall out. I would've seen their body further back, but I don't."

The sound of frantic stomps on metal droned above their heads. _Something_ was happening on the roof, but without getting up there, they had no way of telling what was going on. Were they being attacked by another Guild member? 

"I'm climbin' up there!" Calina sprung into action and shoved past Elric. 

"Calina!" Yori reached out, but nothing could change her mind now. 

Grabbing the ledge, Calina hoisted herself up and boosted onto the train roof. What she saw made absolutely no sense to her, but she knew one thing: they were being attacked. 

Charlie had pulled out their switchblade and swung violently at an entire squad of Sabinese soldiers. Each one of them looked completely identical: tan fur, rectangular glasses, light brown hair and a uniform that looked exactly like Elric's or Yori's. She didn't recognize him, but Charlie must have. 

"This isn't your affinity, Skylar," Charlie grunted. 

The squad of about five clones began to surround Charlie. A dark haze thinly veiled each of them, obscuring their movements ever so slightly. They looked almost ethereal--Calina thought they were ghosts. They moved completely in sync with one another, approaching Charlie slowly but deliberately. 

"No, it isn't. But I think you'll have a much worse time momentarily." Each clone of Skylar surrounding Charlie spoke in unison, creating a chorus of resonant frequencies. 

The wind was howling in Charlie's and Calina's ears, but it only got worse the longer they stood on top of the train. Even though it was the middle of summer, the harsh breeze felt frigid to the touch, not to mention the sheer windspeed. It was difficult to keep their eyes open for long without covering them.

Skylar had no such limitations. "The wind doesn't bother me. You're on _my_ playing field, now. Surrender, Specialist Charlie, or we'll have to use force to bring you to General Nortia for your crimes."

Charlie lunged at one of the clones. Their knife dug into his chest, but the body double faded from existence the moment the blade collided. The clone that once was faded into a grayish, hazy mist and dissipated. 

The remaining Skylars chuckled together. "You know, Nortia did say we could bring you in dead or alive. I think I'll consider the former a bit more thoroughly, now." 

Charlie broke through the barricade of Skylar clones, sprinting as fast as they could through the opening. They spun around, but the wind was now blowing directly in their face. Reflexively, they squinted, obscuring their vision further. 

Needless to say, this would be an uphill battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's like naruto if you think about it


	38. Tornadoland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, the wind picks up.

The remaining four Skylar clones began closing in on Charlie. So far, they hadn't noticed Calina had been watching from the side this whole time. It didn't matter, though, because Skylar had one mission and one mission only: capture Charlie by any means necessary. Dead, alive, it didn't matter. 

"Why do you struggle? This would be a lot easier for all of us if you just surrendered, Specialist Charlie." The Skylars spoke in perfect harmony. 

Charlie held their arm in front of their face, shielding it from the harsh wind. "You've got some nice tricks up your sleeve, but mine is way better." They could see Calina standing to the side and behind the group of Skylars. "In fact, I have a trick right behind you." 

The Skylars turned around and spotted Calina hanging off the side of the train. "Who the hell are you?" they all asked simultaneously. 

"Oh, uh, nobody! Bye!" Calina ducked back into the train and disappeared from sight entirely. 

Despite her cowardice, Calina gave Charlie just enough of an opening to lunge at the nearest Skylar clone. Charlie dug their blade right into the shadowy body-double, causing it to vanish upon impact. The familiar gray haze emanated from the clone's body and promptly blew away in the harsh breeze. 

"Three left," Charlie stepped back, creating space between them and the Skylars. "Not really a fan of one-on-many fights, to be honest." 

"Bring it," the Skylars taunted.

-

Calina hopped back into the train car from the window and slid into Charlie's seat. "Some freaky shit is going on up there," she dove for the duffel bag and immediately unzipped it. Leaning in, she dug out her twin butterfly swords and placed them on the seat behind her. Next, she retrieved Yori's rifle and threw it haphazardly into her lap. "We gotta help Charlie, they're being attacked on the roof by a group of clones or something fucked up like that."

Yori stared at the rifle in her lap, then at Calina. "Clones? What do you mean?" 

Elric paused to think. "That sounds familiar, doesn't it?" 

"You know that freak? He's got a military uniform on, like the ones you guys had. He's all spooky and ghosty and shit, he's standing on the roof and there's, like, four of them!" Calina explained.

"That can't be Skylar, can it, Yori? Skylar's affinity wasn't clones or anything like that," Elric wondered.

"That's Annma. Black Crow, I mean. Why is... What's she doing here?" Yori hesitated to load her gun now. 

"Whoever's on the roof isn't a girl, that's for sure. I only saw a guy, not a girl," Calina said.

"It doesn't matter; Charlie needs our help right now. Yori, I believe Annma may be hiding somewhere on this train. Whoever's on the roof is clearly being assisted by her affinity, so we must find her as soon as possible," Elric suggested. 

Yori's heart sank. "I'll try and find Annma and talk this out with her. I'm sure she'll understand. What will you and Calina do?" 

Elric poked his head out of the window and glanced up. The sounds of stomping feet on the metal roof permeated the air around him, despite the loud clicking and clacking of the train beneath him. He ducked his head back inside and said, "Calina and I will get on the roof and even out the odds." 

"You don't have a weapon," Calina pointed out. 

Elric glanced down at the duffel bag and reached inside. In it, he hoped to find something akin to his former staff. The only thing that looked even remotely like his quarterstaff was a rather unwieldy oar. He pulled it out of the duffel bag and admired its length and solid wood finish. It seemed a little unusual to pack an oar inside a seemingly bottomless bag, but then again, Charlie was rather unpredictable. There was no way for them to know Elric would use staves, was there? It didn't matter now. 

"Calina, help me onto the roof. Yori, go find Annma. She can't be far," Elric ordered. "This, er, six-foot oar should suffice for now." 

Yori hopped to her feet and wrapped her rifle around her back. "I'll do my best. Stay safe, you two. Don't you dare get hurt." She leaned forward and shared a quick hug with Elric, then Calina. "See you soon," she said before darting off to the next car over. 

Elric and Calina shared a quick nod and began to climb out the window. 

-

Charlie swung forward blindly, narrowly grazing one of the clones before them. While a one-on-three fight was hardly fair, knowing that the clones would disappear just from one stab made it all the more bearable. Plus, being immortal helped, too. "You can't stop me. Slow me down, maybe, but nothing on this earth will keep me from reaching Sabine," they barked. 

"Is that so?" the Skylars spoke. Each one held out their arms and muttered something inaudible. After a brief pause, each clone began replicating, creating three extra Skylars. "How about now?" they asked. 

The wind picked up again, stinging Charlie's ears. "You don't want to cross me. Getting in my way never ends well," they threatened. 

"We'll see about that," the Skylars retorted. They ran at Charlie all at once but stopped short when two clones dissipated into a grayish cloud of mist. The remaining four turned around, only to find Elric and Calina, armed with an oar and swords respectively. They had clearly wanted to stand triumphantly, but the harsh winds kept their stances low. Elric, in particular, was having difficulty adjusting to the air roaring past his head. He thought he would fall over any second now, despite his dexterity. 

"It really is you, Skylar," Elric's words were lost to the harsh wind. He spoke up, "Leave Charlie alone!"

Two Skylars turned to face Elric and Calina while the remaining two faced Charlie. "Elric! You're disobeying orders by harboring a criminal. If you surrender, I'll make sure Nortia doesn't punish you _too_ hard." 

"No deal, Skylar; I've seen what Nortia is capable of. If she's managed to poison your worldview this much, then we have no choice but to restrain you!" Elric cried out.

The two Skylars sighed. "And this is why Nortia always hated you. Always so damn focused on your ideals, never willing to compromise. She was right about you!" The two Skylars began to replicate again, creating two more duplicates. One pair dashed after Elric while the other two attacked Calina.

Each Skylar revealed his weapon of choice: nunchucks. An unconventional weapon to be sure, but a weapon nonetheless. They allowed for a versatile range of attack while requiring extreme dexterity to get any value out of them. Skylar favored them for their high skill requirement. Knowing that nobody else could pick up his weapon and get the same value out of it made him feel comfortable. 

The clones attacking Elric twirled them, taking potshots when he could. The harsh impacts from the wood handle left welts on Elric's body, even through his clothes. Elric grabbed his oar lengthwise and bashed one of the Skylar clones in the torso and kicked the other one away. Unfortunately, the impacts weren't harsh enough to dissipate the clones. It was clear he was struggling to fight back, his movements hampered by the galeforce winds blowing against him. 

The Skylars, however, remained unperturbed. To them, it was no different than walking on flat land with absolutely no breeze. "Bet you wish your affinity worked on train roofs, don't you, Elric?" they taunted him. "The wind never bothered me, anyway. I don't feel a thing! Not the cold, not the sting, nothing! I might as well be underground!" 

A shout came from behind the Skylars mocking Elric. Two swords found themselves impaled into both of the clones attacking Elric. The familiar black mist began emanating from the Skylars' torso before their bodies disappeared into smoke. Calina stood behind the once-corporeal clones, panting and sweating. 

A rush of adrenaline washed over Elric, making him want nothing more than to hug Calina right then and there. However, the Skylars were far from defeated. 

"You gotta stab 'em, or hit 'em really hard," Calina suggested. "Looks like you gotta hit to kill to do anything to these guys. Fucking hell," she complained. 

Elric glanced past Calina and saw Charlie struggling with a group of four Skylars. It seemed like no matter how many were disposed of, he could just make as many as he wished. If that were the case, why didn't he make more? "It looks like Skylar has a hard limit to how many clones he can utilize at one time. Perhaps we should exploit this?" 

Calina nodded. "Hell yeah! Let's keep strikin' 'em down as long as we can!"

-

Yori raced through each car as fast as she could. This all felt far too familiar to her: frantically searching a train for someone lying in wait. The main difference this time was that she knew who she was looking for. But at the same time, she wished she didn't. How would she explain to Annma that Nortia was the real enemy and not Charlie? What if Annma turned against her and fought back?

Swallowing her doubts, Yori trudged ever onward. The train only seemed to grow longer with each step she took until she reached the fifth car down from where she started. On the other side of the cabin, Yori spotted Annma sitting in plainclothes, sitting in a window seat. She could recognize that red ponytail anywhere. Slowly and deliberately, Yori tip-toed closer to Annma, not wanting to startle her. 

Her affinity was quite powerful, being able to manifest shadowy clones of anyone she wanted, but everyone has limits. Yori remembered this well. It took Annma's full concentration to make a large number of clones, which made her an easy target. Of course, this was why she would want to hide. She'd be a sitting duck otherwise.

But Annma must have heard her coming. She jolted awake and spun around, only to find Yori approaching her cautiously. Jumping out of her seat and past the passenger next to her, she hopped into the aisle and assumed a defensive stance. "Phantom Hawk! Oh, my gods, it's just you," she relaxed her posture. "Have you seen Glass Fox? We're trying to apprehend them because Nortia--"

Yori cut her off. "You can't do that. I won't let you." 

"Huh?" Annma blinked. "Why not?"

"B-because..." Yori stuttered. "Nortia's an awful person. She's wrong, Annma. I heard about what she's done, stuff she keeps secret from everybody else. You have no idea how many people Nortia has killed." 

"My name is _Crow_ , first of all. And second, I know Nortia's killed people. It's her job to keep the peace, duh! You make it sound like she's a heartless monster," Annma shrugged.

"You don't understand! She's... she'll kill anyone, for any reason! It's not just for keeping the peace--she's killed civilians! I can show you what she's done, but you need to stop trying to capture Charlie, okay?" Yori pleaded.

Annma shook her head. "No can do, Hawk. I don't wanna piss off Nortia again. She _did_ say you might be swayed to Glass Fox's side, and that we're allowed to restrain you and Feat Feet if we have to. Don't make me do this, Hawk," Annma pleaded back. 

"I... I can't let you." Yori extended her rifle and pointed it at Annma's throat. "Stand down, Black Crow. The chain of command is compromised; you can't trust any orders coming from Nortia or any of her confidants any longer. We're going to stop her, and if you get in our way, you'll be dealt with, too." 

"Hawk..." Annma stared down the barrel of her rifle and swallowed. "How could you... You really trust in Glass Fox that much?" 

Yori felt a tear stream down her cheek. "My name is _Yori Bellevoir_ , not Phantom Hawk. I trust in myself and, above all else, my comrades. I will never allow Nortia to cloud my judgment again. Stand _down_ , Annma."

Time seemed to slow for Annma. She felt like she had all the time in the world to make up her mind, but her heart was already set. She lunged forward and grabbed the rifle's barrel with both hands. "I don't want to do this!" she shouted, grunting and wheezing against Yori's strength. In the ensuing struggle, Annma managed to wrestle it to the ground and out of Yori's grasp. 

The gun collapsed to the floor, giving Annma enough time to flee to the next car behind her. Yori quickly reached down and grabbed her rifle. Fortunately for Annma, this made her quick escape possible. Yori sprinted after Annma, her rifle now slung around her back.

After all, she never loaded it in the first place. 

-

Something must have been happening to Annma. The Skylars all felt a wave of dizzyness strike them at the same time. Was she being attacked? It wasn't like any of them could help her out now. The Skylars lost track of how many clones they had replicated and lost within the last few minutes. It must have been a dozen, give or take. It was becoming quite tedious, now that he thought about it. 

The Skylars isolated themselves on one side of the train roof while Charlie, Elric, and Calina stood on the other. The clones were always careful about standing with their backs to the wind, knowing full well it'd impact everyone else more. They could see everyone covering their eyes or lowering their stances just to stay upright. If only the wind blew just a little bit harder, they thought. One sudden breeze could end it all and make their job _so_ much easier. 

The three clones began to replicate into a total of six. Pairs of two took on Charlie, Elric, and Calina respectively, making the fights equally unfair. The first pair went for Charlie; one slid between their legs while the other jumped in the air, kicking Charlie into the clone that ducked beneath them. 

Held in place, Charlie tried desperately to slash at the clone apprehending them. However, Skylar's grip was far too tight. He squeezed their wrist, causing their knife to fall to the ground and, eventually, off the train entirely. The Skylar in front of Charlie cackled. "I've had enough of this," he complained, twirling his nunchucks. He began bashing the handles against Charlie's head over, and over, and over again. Each thwack sent shivers up Skylar's spine, bringing him a euphoric sense of authority. 

All the while, Calina had been keeping her pair of Skylars at a distance. "Hey, pals, don't you know it's not safe to run with scissors?" Calina charged forward, bisecting the Skylar clones. Their 'bodies' faded into mist, which quickly disappeared. "But no one ever said anything about swords," she smirked. 

Elric swung the oar against one of the Skylars as hard as he could. The impact caused the clone to stumble, but only briefly. Anyone else would have fallen off the train from such an impact, but to Skylar, it was nothing more than a nuisance. A painful nuisance, sure, but not as dangerous as Elric would have hoped. The second Skylar attacking Elric grabbed the oar and yanked it out of his hands, then bashed him in the skull with the handle. 

Elric was knocked away and fell on his back. The force of his impact left a sizable dent in the metal roof of the train car, as well as a decently sized welt on the back of his skull. His ears began to ring and his vision grew hazier. "Nnh..." he grunted.

Two Skylars approached him, each holding a segment of the oar between them. They pinned the handle down against Elric's throat and stomped on either side of it, causing the oar to choke him. His body began to seize and flail reflexively, desperate for air. His hands latched onto the handle as tightly as they could as he attempted to pry it away. "We'll deal with you later," the Skylars mocked him.

However, Calina had other plans. She sprinted towards Elric and the Skylars choking him, swords in both hands. She leaped into the air and soared over Elric and between the two clones, landing just above Elric's head. As quickly as she could, Calina spun around and impaled the two Skylars on her swords, tackling them away in the process. 

Elric yanked the oar away from his throat and gasped for air. His veins nearly popped out of his neck from the sudden influx of oxygen. It felt as though his eye was about to bulge out of his skull, but that was the least unpleasant feeling at the moment. He sat up and stumbled to his feet, only for Calina to extend her hand to him. 

"Get up. We got some more clones to deal with," she said, jokingly. 

-

Yori burst through the next car, and then the next, and the next one after that. Annma was always just one step ahead, it seemed. It wasn't until they reached the last car from the front of the train before Annma stopped cold in her tracks. There were no more doors for her to flee through, leaving her trapped with Yori. 

"It's over, Annma. You've got nowhere to hide," Yori said as she walked forward. 

Annma began hyperventilating. Her eyes glazed over and grew unfocused--even Yori could tell from halfway across the cabin. 

"I'm not going to hurt you, Annma. See? I'm not even holding my gun." She held out her hands, showing that they were, indeed, empty. 

Annma was silent. Suddenly, she reached behind her back and pulled out a small pistol. "Stop, please..." she pointed the gun at Yori, but refused to look at her. "Don't come any closer. I can't... I can't lose focus." 

Yori stopped short, holding her hands up. "Okay, I've stopped. Let's just talk and be reasonable, okay...?" Yori asked quietly.

"I want Phantom Hawk back," Annma sniffled. "Bring her back. I liked her better! She didn't... She'd never say those awful things. Aah!" Annma suddenly cried out. She grabbed her head as her nails dug into her fur. 

Yori wasn't sure what was bothering Annma at first, but then she realized her affinity must have been straining her heavily. Maintaining shadow clones at an extreme distance must have begun taking its toll on her, physically and mentally. "Are you okay?" Yori asked.

"Get away! I need to get closer!" Annma sprinted forward, shoving Yori aside. 

However, Yori couldn't just let her go. She grabbed Annma by the legs and tripped her, causing her to land flat on her face. The pistol in her hand slid across the floor--too far away for her to reach. She was desperate to try, anyway, as she began crawling pathetically to reach it. 

Yori stood up, dashed over Annma's body, and snatched the pistol off the ground. "Annma, stop! You need to let go of those clones before you overexert yourself!" 

Annma ignored Yori and lifted herself off the ground. But as soon as she stood up, a splitting headache forced her to her knees. Blood began to pour out of her ears like leaking faucets. When she opened her eyes again, they were bloodshot. The pain was too much for her to bear. She screamed, her piercing shriek only causing more blood to spill from her ears. 

Yori took matters into her own hands and picked Annma off the ground. She was heavy, but Yori was just barely able to lift her. "Don't you dare die on me, Annma..." 

Her body went limp over Yori's shoulder. At first, Yori feared for the worst, but the gentle rising and falling of her lungs proved she was still alive. Unconscious, sure, but alive. 

But that was the last thing Annma wanted.

-

Only two clones remained, both of them were busy restraining Charlie and bashing them with nunchucks. At this point, Charlie was desperate. Without a knife, getting rid of the clones was significantly tougher. When they looked over, Elric and Calina were already inundated with clones of their own to handle. 

It was time to take matters into their own hands. The Skylar clone behind Charlie held their arms in place, but never would he expect Charlie to try anything foolish. Unfortunately for them, Charlie was nothing if not reckless. They ducked quickly, dodging one of Skylar's nunchuck barrages, causing it to hit the other Skylar instead. This gave Charlie just enough of a window of opportunity to slip their arms out from their grasp. Once one arm was free, Charlie kicked the two of them away in opposite directions. 

One Skylar landed on his back behind Charlie. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good opportunity, Charlie grabbed Skylar by his collar and lifted him into the air. With no hesitation, they threw Skylar off the side of the train. His body didn't even have the chance to impact the ground before it dissipated into mist. 

The remaining Skylar was furious. "I should just kill you right now and be done with it!" he shouted. In a blind fury, he charged at Charlie. 

However, Charlie was ready. They sidestepped at the last second and grabbed Skylar by the arm, twisting it behind his back. As quickly as they had managed to restrain him, Charlie threw Skylar over the edge of the train. 

This time, however, Skylar screamed. His body flew forward, but his foot caught the edge of the train roof. His body dangled like a carelessly placed ornament on a cheap tree. Charlie sighed, "You can't even fall right, can you?" 

All the while, Elric and Calina had been dispatching clones as swiftly as they appeared. But for some reason, no more appeared. They looked all around but saw nothing except for Charlie staring at Skylar dangling over the edge of the train. 

"Is that the last clone?" Calina asked.

Elric stared at Charlie, then Skylar. "I don't think that's a clone." 

Skylar's screams were audible, even from across the roof. "Please! Don't kick me off! Charlie, please, no!" Skylar begged. 

"You made your choice, and I've made mine," Charlie complained. Pulling their foot back, they began to slam downward with the intent to kill. All it'd take was one little stomp, and Skylar's life would be over. 

Elric refused. He sprinted as fast as he could against the wind and tackled Charlie away from Skylar. Calina capitalized on the distraction and ran towards Skylar, grabbing him by the foot and yanking him as hard as she could. Despite his weight, she just barely managed to save him from certain doom. Skylar's body smacked against the train roof harshly, but it certainly beat hitting the ground at a high speed. 

His pupils were dilated as he stared skyward. Sweat poured down his brow as he panted and grasped all around himself. His body must have been preparing to fall, so much so that he didn't even realize he was safe. "Please don't kill me, please don't kill me, please don't..." he muttered uncontrollably. 

Even though she just saved his life, Calina sat on Skylar's chest and pinned his wrists to the roof. "You're going nowhere. Not gonna kill ya, but you're sure as hell not free to go yet!" 

Calina's words went in one ear and right out Skylar's other. All he could do was breathe. At the very least, he still _could_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mind runs fast  
> Your thoughts are louder than your words  
> And every time you turn around  
> It starts to hurt, hurt, it starts to hurt


	39. Out of the Bag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, an unlikely ally is made.

Annma came to not long after Skylar had been subdued. Her eyes fluttered open as she took in her surroundings, her mind hazier than her sight. After taking a moment to adjust, she saw Elric, Yori, and Charlie sitting across from her and Skylar to her side. As she went to scratch her eyes, she realized her hands had been cuffed behind her back. The cold steel coiled around her wrists like particularly unfashionable and bulky bracelets. Try as she might, there wasn't anything she could do. "Why...?" 

"Hi, Annma," Yori said. "How are you feeling?" 

"Honest? Pretty shitty. Nortia's gonna kill us, you know..." she glanced to her side and stared at Skylar. "I'm glad Sky's okay. I was really worried before I... I guess I passed out, huh?"

Yori nodded. "You must've strained yourself, running too far from him while trying to maintain your shadow clones. You should really be more careful, Annma."

"M-my name is... Crow," she sputtered. 

Yori turned to Charlie, then Elric. "Looks like she's feeling alright. She wouldn't be correcting me if she wasn't." 

Annma glanced at Skylar again, as if she needed confirmation he was alive. Oddly enough, he refused to look her way for reasons she didn't quite know. She assumed he was passed out or incredibly ashamed. "I told you it was a risky idea," she nudged at his arm with her elbow. 

Skylar barely moved. "I can't go back to Nortia like this. I'd rather die." 

His words caught Charlie's attention. They stood up and stomped over to Skylar's seat and grabbed him by the collar. Forcing him to look them in the eye, Charlie spat in his face. "If it were up to me, you would've gotten your wish, but Elric and Calina exercised restraint. If you really want, I'll kill you myself." 

Skylar stared back at Charlie with the fear of the gods in his eyes. His mouth was agape as if to call out for help, but nothing happened.

"...However," Charlie continued, "it sounds to me like you're just wallowing in your own self-pity. Your cries for mercy were real, and believe me, I would know what that sounds like. The next time I hear you ask for death, I'll follow through on that." They glared quietly before returning to their seat. 

A cold chill ran down Skylar's spine. He wouldn't dare raise so much as a whisper against someone like Charlie, especially not now. 

"Charlie, was that really necessary?" Elric complained. "I believe he has already learned his lesson."

"Are you in any position to question my stance on the concept of _death_ , Elric?" Charlie glared. 

He shook his head. "No, but you know that I am not entirely unfamiliar with it, either."

Annma interrupted. "How long have I been out?" 

"A while, actually. We've just been sitting here waiting for you to wake up. We're almost at Sabine, now," Yori explained. 

"What are you going to do with us?" Annma asked. 

"Honestly? Just let you two go. We're going to go see Nortia and, er, Catol's president. There's a deep conspiracy going on and, well, we're trying to stop it," Yori said.

Nortia? Working with Calum? It all seemed too unreal to believe. "I can't believe that. Why would they work together? It just seems too weird to me."

Charlie spoke up. "Nortia stole everything from me. I have damning evidence of her's and Calum's injustices to their respective people, and absolutely nothing is going to stop me. Not you, not Skylar, not even death itself. She'll rue the day she ever crossed me." 

"You keep going on and on about death. What do you mean?" Annma asked, despite her nerves. 

Charlie leaned forward and pressed Annma's hand against her chest. Instead of a familiar and rhythmic heartbeat, Annma felt an irregular and strained thumping. "What happened to your heart? This doesn't sound normal at all, like a... a drunk percussion section." 

"Side effects of my affinity, I suppose. My biology is incredibly unusual, and I'm sure scientists everywhere would love to study it. Basically, I can't die, no matter how hard I try to. And believe me..." Charlie paused. "I've been thorough." 

"Nortia did this to you?" Annma's eyes widened. 

Charlie nodded.

"What's your evidence?" Annma was afraid to ask. 

Leaning over, Charlie fished around inside the duffel bag and pulled out a small folder. Inside the folder was a page--an excerpt from a journal. Charlie held it out in front of Annma and allowed her to read it. 

"The Light of Truth was an organization Nortia's had her eyes on for quite some time. She spent months observing and collecting data in her usual manner--how befitting for one of Sabine's finest! All it took for her to end it all was to send in a mole and wipe out every last member. The group stood for social reform, unionization, and standardization of workers' rights across the entirety of Sabine. Clearly, this would impede progress on gemstone mining and, thusly, would hurt Sabine's exports. It doesn't take a genius economist to see that this would hamper Sabine's power as a nation. Nortia stands for order and unity above all else, even if it means mass murder. Brutality doesn't even begin to describe her actions. But no matter what word you use to describe her behavior, she certainly knows how to maintain control over people," Annma read to herself.

Charlie filed the entry back into the folder, then into the duffel bag. "Calum kept dirt on Nortia. It must have been some sort of... insurance, you could say. If Nortia acted out of line, Calum could just publish this document. Of course, Nortia must also have dirt about Calum. They're nothing if not paranoid." 

"I don't..." Annma went silent. The expression on her face faded from mild caution to a quiet dread. Her eyes fixated on the floor between her feet, focusing on nothing in particular. Her entire world had just been flipped on its head, so it was only natural she would need some time to think things through. 

"Are you okay, Annma?" Yori asked. 

"...I don't think so. I feel... sick." She stared up at the ceiling, her head leaning back against the seat. "If this is true, we've been helping a dictator stay in power this whole time. I... I thought I was doing something good. I had no idea what we were fighting over, but this... I can't just ignore this, now can I?"

"Hold on," Yori said. "What _have_ you and Skylar been doing this whole time?"

Annma sniffled. "Specialists also double as assassins--Nortia's little, personal army. She likes to send them after particularly elusive targets or anyone she deems a threat. Sky... Skylar and I actually went after this woman not long after you guys left Sabine."

Charlie's ears perked up. "Go on. Who was this woman?" 

Annma began to sweat. "Well, uh, she was kind of on the older side, maybe middle age at best? Nortia wanted us to kill her, but she got away before we could actually take her out. Called us fascist pigs while taunting us. I thought she was just some petty thief, but she must've had years of experience. I--"

"What was her _name_?"

"N-Nortia said her name was Bardle. We don't have a lot of good intel on her, but--"

"So, she's safe?" Charlie concluded.

"...Yeah, she is. She got away and Nortia hadn't sent anyone else after her since then. Is she a friend of yours or something?" Annma had plenty of other questions but settled on just one. Swamping Charlie with questions seemed like a bad idea.

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. "Good." 

"Gods, Skylar and I almost killed your friend. Knowing what Nortia's done just to stay in power really puts our other tasks into perspective. I can't trust anything she says. I feel so awful about all of this, I really do," Annma sniffled again.

"I don't blame you, Annma," Charlie reassured them. "Nortia hid her atrocities well. Had you known, well, I don't think you'd be rambling as you are now. If you want to make things right, perhaps you could join us?"

"...Join you?" 

Everyone looked equally perplexed. Skylar, however, remained indifferent. His attention was better suited elsewhere, apparently.

"I don't know..." Annma looked conflicted. "This is kind of scary. Like, what if we get arrested for treason?" 

Charlie almost wanted to chuckle. "Annma, if we don't do this, nobody else will. The last time anybody tried, they were all exterminated. Besides," they brushed their hair off their brow, "what could Nortia possibly do to me?" 

Annma leaned in closer, staring at the scar on Charlie's forehead. Even after all these years, their forehead still had a circular dent. The bullet that killed Shanalotte and birthed Charlie left behind a semi-noticeable scar for all to see. The thought of staring down a gun's barrel scared Annma, but what scared her more was the person holding the gun. Someone who was supposed to uphold the peace, someone meant to protect others, someone like that should never spill innocent blood. 

"We _have_ to stop them, Annma. There isn't going to be a better opportunity than what we have now. We have the evidence, now we just need to take them down," Yori explained.

"How do you plan to do that, exactly? They sound pretty hard to, you know, fight," Annma asked.

Charlie spoke up. "The journal Calum kept. All we need to do is make the contents public knowledge. If we do that, their power will crumble beneath them."

"What if the people don't _want_ to believe you? What if they'd rather believe in their beloved leaders?" Annma asked.

"...I'll be honest, this has always been wishful thinking on my end. Even if the people do not believe it, I hope that it strikes a primal fear into Nortia's and Calum's hearts. Perhaps that the selfish part of me wanting to watch them suffer for their sins. That being said, if the people don't want to believe, then killing them is our only other option. Even if we go down in history as treasonous scum, _we'll_ always know the truth. And the truth will never die, not as long as I'm around."

Yori was quiet at first. "Nortia's a paranoid woman like you've all said. What's stopping her from sending more of her specialists after us?"

Charlie thought about what Yori said and realized she had a point. "I can't deny the possibility that Nortia's likely going to sic some more of her assassins on us. We'll have to be extremely careful and prepare to kill them if it should come to that." They glanced at the silent Annma and asked, "Do you have any problems with that?"

She didn't respond. All the color in her face had drained away. 

"Fine," Charlie sighed. "You can, at the very least, help obscure our presence. Use your affinity to distract anyone who's trying to kill us." 

"...I can do that," she muttered. 

Leaning back in their chair, Charlie exhaled in relief. "Good. You'll have to be ready as soon as we arrive at Sabine. Once those doors open, we're going to rendezvous with Bardle, then we're going to find somewhere to lay low. Got it?"

Annma nodded. "Alright. I'll help you guys out. What about you, Sky?" She leaned over and faced him. 

Skylar refused to answer. 

"Sky...?" 

"If he doesn't want to help," Charlie intervened, "then don't bother. He can run off for all I care. As long as he doesn't get in our way, that is." 

"Skylar..." Annma murmured his real name and not his code name. 

The train let out an ear-piercing whistle. The wheels slowly but surely ground to a halt as the station appeared before them in the window. Once the train came to a complete stop, steam whooshed out from underneath the wheels and onto the platform. Distant whistles from conductors rang out in an impromptu chorus. This was their stop, and it was time to mobilize. 

"One question," Annma said, "who's this Simenti girl?" 

Yori's ears perked up. "Oh, that's Calina. She's our friend we met while going to Catol. Don't worry, she's on our side."

Calina smirked. "Yo, I'm Yori's girlfriend," she waved. 

Yori blushed. "Is now the best time for that?" 

"Come on," Charlie interrupted. They reached behind Annma and sliced the ropes binding her hands behind her back. "Let's go."

Elric, Yori, Calina, Charlie, and Annma all rose from their respective seats. Skylar, however, opted to stay perfectly still. He wasn't their concern any longer; his decision had been made long ago. If he really wanted to be left alone to wallow in his misery, then so be it. As much as Annma would've liked to have brought him along, she knew just how stubborn he could be. Before they left him alone, Charlie sliced open his bindings as well, freeing his hands. Despite this, Skylar refused to interact with Charlie at all.

They made their way through the train car and out the door and onto the platform. The path to Propietra's military base was more-or-less a straight line from the station, but it was still quite a distance away. Elric and Yori recall traveling for an hour or so by car while getting shipped out to the border. It felt like so long ago now, being a border patrol officer. 

Before they ever left Sabine for the first time, Elric had both eyes and Yori still had faith in her superior officers. Now they had neither. Yori wondered if Annma was too polite to comment on Elric's eyepatch. After all, it's not like Annma wouldn't have noticed that. Maybe she was just too scared to talk out of line considering her situation. 

"How are we getting to the base, Charlie?" Elric asked.

The sound of screeching tires overwhelmed Charlie's answer. A large, black car careened onto the train platform in front of everyone until it came to a harsh stop. Annma recognized the car immediately. "Oh no..."

"What?" Yori leaned closer to her. "What is it?"

"That was supposed to be our ride. I know who's in there," she replied. 

The driver's door opened and Creaden ears popped out from behind the car. The figure walked out and closed the door, revealing himself.

"Specialist Disada," Annma grimaced. 

Just like Annma, he had been wearing his military uniform. His was adorned with extra pockets, however. Smirking, he said, "Hey, looks like you got everyone, huh? Wait... who's the Simenti? And why isn't Charlie cuffed?" 

"Disada, you need to listen. Something horrible is happening and--"

"No, I understand already. You've been poisoned by Charlie's words, haven't you? General Nortia warned me Charlie might try to pit everyone against her, but I'm not falling for that. I'm not going to fail her, Annma. I'm far too valuable to throw everything I've been working towards away. But it's not too late for you, Annma. You just have to arrest these _criminals_ and everything will be okay..." Disada glared at everyone. 

Elric stepped in front of Annma. "It's true, Disada. Nortia has been lying to us this whole time. She's done terrible things, and we have the evidence to prove it. We can show you," he reasoned. 

Disada chuckled. "Do you really think I'd just believe you? You could just fabricate anything you want! Spreading fake news just to further your own agenda is a new low, even for you guys. I have _faith_ in my superior officers. If I can't even have that, then what can we believe in? What's the point of it all, then?" 

"Stand down, Disada," Elric barked. "We outnumber you. This doesn't have to end in violence if you just give up."

"You may outnumber me, but you have no idea just how much stronger I am than all of you combined. You'd need at least twice as many people just to slow me down at all," he laughed again. "So, I say 'bring it on!' Show me what your little criminal party has got against Nortia's finest!" 

Charlie sighed. "I've had enough of this," they said as they reached for Annma's pistol holster. With their hand wrapped around the handle, Charlie aimed the barrel at Disada's chest and opened fire. They fired two shots, each of them piercing Disada's chest and puncturing the pocket over his left breast. 

However, Disada didn't fall over. Instead, he remained standing, almost unmoved even by the sheer force of the bullets. After a brief pause, the hole in his left breast pocket began churning and swelling. A gush of water shot out with a force equitable to a firehose, spraying in a ten-foot stream from his chest. Cackling, he spun around and aimed the rush of water at Charlie, knocking them onto the ground and knocking their gun away. Once they were downed, Disada turned his attention to Elric, then Yori, Calina, and finally, Annma. 

None of them stood a chance against the seemingly endless hose shooting out of Disada's chest. Not content with just knocking them over, Disada wanted to drown everyone. His punctured pocket continued spraying water over their bodies, making sure to get as much into their throats as possible. Elric and Calina gagged on the water, taking inopportune breaths as water shot down their tracheas. 

Charlie sputtered and gasped as they reached for their gun. The water had knocked it well out of the way, so they had to crawl as fast as they could. Any sudden movements would just draw Disada's attention over. The ground beneath them grew saturated, making crawling even more difficult against the slippery concrete. 

"And where do you think _you're_ going, scum?" Disada aimed at Charlie's gun, knocking it further away. "Oops, there goes your only shot. Hah, get it? Shot?!" he cackled again. The pressure from the water hose sputtered and failed until it became a soft dripping. Whatever water was inside Disada's pocket had been exhausted, leaving only a punctured bag behind. "You forgot about my bags of holding, didn't you? Don't worry, I've got plenty more. I wonder which one I should open next..." he wondered. 

Disada's fingers unclasped a small pouch hanging off his belt. His hand reached inside far deeper than it logically should have gone. His arm went shoulder deep rummaging through a pouch that couldn't have been more than a few inches tall. Once he found what he was looking for, he pulled out a palm-sized battery and some copper wire. "This is a pretty heavy-duty battery. It's supposed to be for military use only, you know." He tapped the wire against both ends of the battery, producing a small electrical current. After fixing them into place, he threw it at Charlie. 

The electricity mixed with their wet clothes, sending shockwaves all around their body. Charlie's body writhed and seized up as the smell of wet fur faded into burnt, muggy fur. After only a moment, Charlie's body loosened and fell limp. Death had taken them yet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't make an electricity pun don't make an electricity pun don't make an electricity pun don't make an electricity pun


	40. Bagged and Tagged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, bags are emptied.

"Disada?! What the hell...?" Annma shrieked as she sat up straight. "Charlie?!" 

Disada grinned. "Nortia _did_ say dead or alive, remember?" Walking closer, he bent down and lifted Charlie's limp body over his shoulder. "Who knew corpses were so damn heavy, eh?" 

"How can you say that?! What the hell... What's wrong with you, Disada?" Annma's breaths were strained. "You _killed_ them!"

"I'm just following orders! It sounds like you forgot how to do that, though. Then again, maybe we're not all cut out for this kind of work, huh?" Disada preached as he walked back towards his car. With his free hand, he opened the back door and threw Charlie's body into the seat with a soft 'plop'. "I have to say, Annma," Disada closed the door, "I didn't think you'd lose your way this quickly." 

Annma scoffed. "You.. you think I lost my way? You've been delusional from the beginning! Nortia only cares about your ability to make those bags! Just cause you can make those shitty, little pouches doesn't make you any better than us!"

"On the contrary, I think it makes me far superior," he corrected. "In any case, I should really get going. I've got a promotion waiting for me at the base."

"No! I won't let you!" Annma charged forward towards Disada and his car, but Elric grabbed her by the shoulder. Confused, she whipped her head back and met his gaze. "Why are you stopping me?!" 

Elric shook his head. "Just watch. I sincerely doubt he'll get far." 

"See you never, losers!" Disada taunted and got back into his car. With a turn of his key, the engine purred to life. 

"Ten seconds..." Yori muttered.

"Ten seconds to what?" Annma asked, completely confused. 

The car crawled into the distance only to stop short no more than a dozen seconds later. Although it was hard to see, Annma could just barely make out some sort of struggle occurring in the car. Was Disada struggling with himself? The car came to a screeching halt and Disada fell out of his seat onto the grass below. Angrily, he huffed and attempted to climb back in, only for the door to close in front of him. 

Annma blinked. "Can _somebody_ explain what's going on? Please?" 

"Charlie can't die; their affinity apparently binds their spirit to their body, no matter the damage sustained," Elric explained.

"Gods..." Annma cupped her mouth with her hand. 

Disada unlatched a pouch from his belt and opened it, revealing a hammer. With one strike, Disada bashed the driver's side window open and reached inside. He clawed at Charlie sitting in the driver's seat, only to be punched back. Visibly upset, he threw the hammer at Charlie. Then, as quickly as he could, he reached into the same pouch and pulled out a small sidearm--a pistol of the same type and model as Annma's. With one hand gripping the handle and the other supporting it, he pointed the barrel inside of the car and fired. 

Charlie clasped at the barrel with their hand just before he pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced their hand and crashed out of the passenger's side window. With a look of utter contempt on their face, Charlie wrestled the pistol out of Disada's hand and whipped him in the forehead with the handle. Knowing Disada, shooting him might flood everything around him. 

Despite this, Disada grabbed the pistol and struggled against Charlie with it. "Little do you realize that if you kill me, all my bags will stop existing. Everything in them will fall out. I've got a dead man's switch that's even more dangerous than yours, apparently. I recommend letting go of this gun now before your friends get involved," he grunted. 

"You're bluffing," Charlie quipped. "You don't know what happens after you die. If you want to find out, I'll be more than happy to teach you." 

Disada's words were cut short. Something blunt had struck him in the back, causing his body to tense and wretch up. His grip on the pistol loosened and his shoulders tensed as he looked behind himself only to find Elric's oar digging into his back. "Oh, you've really fucked up now, haven't you?" Disada chuckled.

Elric's grip. Something coming from beneath Disada's vest caused the oar in Elric's hands to convulse until a cloud of smoke erupted from Disada's back. The built-up pressure was swiftly released, launching Elric backward and dragging him across the pavement. A small smear of blood followed his body as he lay flat on the ground. His eyepatch was blown away, revealing his blackened eye. The cornea had been lacerated from his encounter with Zeva, causing his pupil to look misshapen. Now it was exposed to the world. 

Yori ran to Elric's side and knelt down. She grabbed his torso and shouted, "Elric?! Elric, are you okay?!" 

Elric gave a weak thumbs up. "I am just fine, thank you very much." He attempted to stand up, but his knees buckled under his weight. "I can't let heavily pressurized gas knock me down so soon, now can I?"

"No, you need to rest. I have an idea, anyway..." Yori stood up and looked at Annma and Calina. "Hey, Annma, can you make some clones of Calina?"

"I... Yeah, I can. You've got a plan to stop him?" she asked.

Yori looked at Calina and grabbed her shoulders. "Listen, this could be too dangerous to attempt, but--"

"Aw, fuck that. I'm gonna help and you know it," Calina dismissed her worries. "Whatcha want, babe?" 

"Annma's going to make clones for you. Can you distract Disada long enough so that Charlie and I can line up a shot without triggering one of his traps?" Yori asked. 

"You got it, Chessmaster Yori! I'll restrain him so you guys can, uh, disbag him?" Calina shrugged. "Anyway, I'm ready when you are. Just give me the signal and I'll haul ass." 

Annma nodded as she and Calina turned their attention towards Disada and Charlie. Their struggle over his pistol was still going, but Charlie had a reckless idea in mind. Using the hole in their palm, they slid their hand down the length of the barrel and clasped their fingers at the magazine release. The clip fell to the ground, but one bullet remained chambered in the gun. 

Not wanting to leave him any ammunition, Charlie forced his finger on the trigger. The gun discharged and the bullet ricocheted around the plated metal interior before striking Charlie in the shoulder. They bit their lip, but to them, it was just a flesh wound. "Looks like you're all out," they quipped. 

Disada grunted. "I've got more! I have more bullets than you can even imagine with your pea-sized brain!" 

Yori gave the signal to attack. She pointed at Disada, causing Calina to sprint towards him as fast as she could. Every step she took, a shadowy clone appeared beside her. Each one looked nearly indistinguishable from the original Calina. In total, she had four clones running alongside her and mimicking her every movement down to the smallest detail. 

Coming up from behind Disada, she called out, "Hey, jackass! Watch your back, why don't you?!"

Disada let go of the pistol and spun around to find a small army of Calinas charging after him. He needed to act quickly. Before they could get within striking distance, he reached for a pouch strapped to the inside of his sleeve and pulled it out. "Try following this!" he shouted as he threw the bag to the ground.

Upon impact, the bag exploded into a cloud of fog and smoke. The Calina clones all stopped on a dime, but the haze surrounded them. Each of them turned and glanced around to no avail. Then, a shot rang out. A bullet flew through the fog and hit one of the clones in the chest, causing it to fade. Then another shot pierced the haze, striking another clone in the chest as well. The remaining Calinas sprinted out of the fog, only to find Disada waiting for them. He fired two more shots, each of them striking down the last two clones. 

"Just you and me now, Scumenti. No more tricks," he barked. With a burning hatred in his eyes, Disada pulled the trigger. Just before the bullet fired, Disada landed face first on the ground. His gun slid out of his hands and towards Calina, well out of his reach. Glancing upward, he saw that his bullet grazed her bicep. While it wouldn't be lethal, it would certainly slow her down. 

The more pressing issue at hand, however, was Elric sitting on his back. "Get off of me!" he shouted, trying to buck Elric off of him. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't shake him. 

"Shh," Elric lined up the flat part of the oar behind Disada's head. With his foot, he stomped on the ground next to Disada's head, causing an earthen disc to shoot upward. The projectile slammed into Disada's chin, causing his head to jolt upward into the oar above him. His body soon went limp as his consciousness faded, leaving only a useless and kind-of-racist body behind. 

Elric got off of Disada's back, only to find Yori huddled over Calina. Yori had torn away at Calina's sleeve to expose her bullet wound which, thankfully, was not very deep at all. Not wanting to hesitate, Elric dashed to Calina and knelt down next to her.

"This fucking hurts," she complained.

Elric reached into his tasset and pulled out a roll of alcohol wipes and swabs and began to clean the wound. "Rest your elbow on my knee, please. We need to elevate your wound above your heart to slow down the bleeding." His fingers wrapped around the wound to apply pressure.

"How bad is it?" she whimpered.

"Well, it sounds to me like it hurt your attitude more than it did your body. It does not look like it hit the humerus or an artery, so you should be fine. It'll sting, obviously. I'm going to apply pressure with some gauze and cover it with a tourniquet," he said, calmly reaching into his pouch. "Do you want something to bite down on? This could hurt a bit," he suggested.

Calina smirked. "I could bite down on Yori's lips any time. What do you say?" she glanced up at Yori.

Yori got down on her knees to Calina's side, opposite of Elric. "You get shot in the arm and you're still trying to flirt?" 

"What, like you wouldn't?" Calina protested. Her bicep tensed up as Elric wrapped around it with a tight-fitting gauze. "Ow, ow, ow, kiss me already, ow, please."

Yori's hand wiped the hair out of Calina's eyes. Closing her eyes, Yori kissed Calina on the lips. Her hands played with Calina's hair and cupped her cheek as she felt her heartbeat slow. The occasional jolt of discomfort came from Calina's lips as Elric tightened the gauze around her arm, but it didn't distract either of them for long. 

"Alright, you two can cease fighting a tongue war," Elric huffed as he stood up straight. 

Yori helped Calina to her feet as they stood back up. Even still, they were eyeing each other as if they had wanted more. Now was certainly not the time. 

"Your arm should heal up, but I would recommend taking it easy for now. If you can avoid using your left arm for combat, that would be ideal. Knowing you, however, this may be an exercise in futility. You were lucky that the bullet only grazed you; had it been embedded in your arm, this would have been a much more difficult procedure," he explained. "That being said, I think we should be on the lookout for blood poisoning, because--"

"I'll be fine," Calina insisted. "What about Disada?"

Elric turned around and saw Annma and Charlie had already taken the time to restrain his unconscious body. Charlie had cuffed his hand behind his back while Annma searched his body for any other hidden bags. In total, Annma found eleven bags that had yet to be used. Despite her curiosity, she knew better than to open them. Anything could be in there, even an entire body of water from what she saw. 

Stripped bare of any and all potential weapons, Disada was no more a threat than a wasp without its stinger. The cuffs were likely unnecessary considering Annma and Yori were armed, but nobody wanted to take any chances. Even without his bags, he could have a trap just waiting to be sprung. 

After Charlie lay Disada's back against the car he drove in with, they slapped him across the face to wake him up. His cheek burned and stung as he shook his head angrily. "Ow!" he complained.

Charlie dug their boot into his face. "Give me three good reasons why I shouldn't bash your head in." 

"Your boot tastes like mud," he whined. "How am I supposed to talk like this?"

"With difficulty, I'd imagine," Charlie yawned. "Clock's ticking." 

"Ugh," he grunted. "What's the point? Nortia's going to kill me anyway."

"You and Skylar said the same thing. Why do you care so much about what some fascist thinks about you? Don't you realize you can have a mind of your own?" Charlie dug their boot into his face a little bit harder.

Disada winced. "That's not what being a soldier is about. We give ourselves to our superior officers for a greater cause. Wouldn't you rather focus on bettering yourself while letting someone else make your decisions for you? After all, someone like Nortia knows better than any of us." 

Yori twitched when Disada spoke. Everything he said just hit her wrong, causing waves of disgust to wash over her. Not content to ignore it, she knelt down in front of Disada and next to Charlie. "I tried that, you know. I really wanted to avoid thinking for myself as long as possible, because I didn't think I could do anything on my own. Yes, it's scary. Yes, it's hard, but I know it's the right thing to do. Believing in Nortia and doing what she wanted only caused more pain and suffering. I'm not going to sit idly by and let that happen again--not now and not ever. I've seen what she's capable of, and I refuse to serve her any longer."

"And what, pray tell, has she done?" Disada asked.

Charlie chimed in. "She's killed innocent people--people who stood in the way of her and more power. Not only that, but she purposefully let the Thieves' Guild go unchecked. She doesn't care about you, or us, or anyone else. If you want to give your life to someone who won't remember your name, then you don't even deserve to have your life at all. It isn't yours and never was." 

Yori stood up and faced Charlie. "You can't kill him. Yes, he attacked us, but I know he'll turn away from Nortia once we spread the truth. I spent months in basic training with him. Yes, he's an idiot, yes, he's violent, but he's not completely lost. I know, deep inside of him, there's someone who can be a good person."

"Your definition of 'good person' is a little too relaxed for my liking, Yori. Who cares if he can be a good person? If he doesn't want to be, then there's no reason to let him live; he'll just get in our way." Charlie glared at Disada.

Yori sighed. "I know you must feel raw about what Nortia did to you, but you're misplacing your anger. Nortia is our enemy, right? She's the one who did this to you to start with. She's the one who poisoned his mind. You can kill as many of her lackeys as you'd like, but you'd just be wasting your time if you did."

"Killing him would be fast. Faster than arguing with me."

"You're just gonna kill everyone who stands in your way? How many bodies are you going to crawl over until you reach Nortia? Yes, killing him would be fast, but if you did this every time someone stood in your way, you'll never reach her."

Charlie breathed deeply and took their boot off of Disada's face. "Fine. If you're wrong, it's your funeral, not mine." 

Disada panted as sweat beaded down his face. "Thank you, Yori..."

Yori glanced down at him. "If you want to thank me, reflect upon your actions. Don't let Nortia control you." 

"I... I don't know how to do that," he said.

"You'll figure it out." 

Charlie walked around to the other side of the car Disada drove in with and glanced inside. "Keys are still here. Looks like we can reach the military base in style--should be able to fit all five of us."

"Five?" Elric asked. "Is Disada not coming?"

"No," Charlie replied. "They can stay here and hope someone uncuffs them." 

"I don't know. That seems a little dangerous, don't you think?" Yori asked. "Couldn't we leave him in the trunk?"

"He'd suffocate after long," Elric said.

"Well, maybe we could drive to the base, then when we get out, we could lock him in the back seat once we're done?" Yori suggested.

"Sounds good to me.." Charlie entered the driver's seat and started the car. "Everyone, in. The sooner we reach Patch, the faster this'll all be over with."

Elric walked to the passenger's side and opened the door, entering the seat next to Charlie. Annma, Calina, and Yori all piled in the back seat after stuffing Disada into the trunk and slamming it shut on him. To be honest, it felt way too good. Once everyone was in and buckled, Charlie adjusted the mirrors and seat. 

"Didn't he smash your window, Charlie? Are you sitting on broken glass?" Annma asked.

"It doesn't bother me."

"Oh..."

Charlie wasted no time. The engine roared to life as they drove off from the train station, leaving Disada behind. All things considered, the battle could have gone a lot worse. Someone could have gotten seriously injured--or killed, even. Excluding Charlie, for obvious reasons. 

But perhaps Yori had a point? Was Charlie's anger misplaced? Was taking it out on people who were only tangentially related to Nortia really justified? Well, Disada _was_ kind of a jerk, and who would really miss him anyway? Still...

For now, there was only one thing left on Charlie's mind: revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was told this was the best fight in the whole story by my editor
> 
> i'm inclined to agree


	41. Apotheosis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, new heights are reached.

Calum's car pulled up to the Propietra military base's back entrance. The car itself was more-or-less nondescript with sprayed-on window tinting to obscure Calum's presence inside. As it came to a halt, the driver exited and opened Calum's door. Despite her insistence that this was unnecessary, her driver still did his job. 

Stepping out of the car, Calum had put on a thick trenchcoat and a large hat. Being recognized would be quite the diversion, and Calum was nothing if not timely. She walked through the back door and entered the building by herself. There hadn't been a single soul inside the base as far as she could tell. This was unsurprising, however. Nortia had told Calum she would make sure none of her soldiers would be around when she arrived.

Calum continued trotting through the base until she came across a familiar, mahogany door. Twisting the doorknob, she let herself in, only to find Nortia sitting at her desk pensively. "Hello, Nortia," she said, closing the door behind herself. 

The office was just as large and atmospheric as she remembered. It struck her like a library that had been converted into a general's office. A bookshelf lined the wall opposite the door. While it was nowhere near as expansive as Calum's, it shows that Nortia was still well read. Papers were neatly organized and stacked on her desk, as were her pens and folders. Nortia was nothing if not meticulous, perhaps more than Calum ever dreamed of being. The only people that kept their offices this clean were either incredibly paranoid or were looking to make an impression. Calum thought Nortia to be both simultaneously. 

"Ah, Calum. You made it just fine, it seems." Nortia perked up. 

Calum hung her hat and jacket on the coat rack near the door. "I came as quick as I could. I wanted you to see them for yourself."

"Well, on with it. I've waited far too long for this kind of suspenseful build-up," she complained. 

Calum reached into her coat pocket and revealed the gemstones. As they lay in her palm, each one glowed faintly in their respective ruby and sapphire hues. "Aren't they the most beautiful things you've ever seen? It took all my strength not to cry on the way over here. They're _real_ , Nortia. And we have them!" 

Nortia stood up and walked over. Her gaze was drawn downward into Calum's palm. Both gems were gorgeous, but the sapphire was the one that caught her eye. "May I hold that sapphire?" she asked.

"Oh, yes, of course. That's the gemstone that supposedly belonged to the Creaden god. The ruby was the one the Simenti god created, remember?"

"Yes, I remember." Nortia was fixated on the sapphire in her palm. However, it stopped glowing as soon as she held it. "Is it supposed to do that?" 

Calum frowned. "Let me hold it again." 

Nortia returned the sapphire and watched it closely. As soon as it touched Calum's hand, it began glowing once more. "Interesting..."

"Ah, I understand now. Don't you?" Calum asked.

"It's been quite a while since I brushed up on my history. Could you explain it to me again?" 

"Well, the legends state that the gemstones react to feelings of selflessness. If you want to use the gemstones' power, your heart must be unclouded. Right now, I am thinking about all of the wonderful changes we can make to this world. So much hatred, so much malcontent, it's horrible. The gods want us to make things right and show the way to heaven. In a way, it must be. After all, this _is_ the remnants of the gods themselves. If they didn't believe in us, they wouldn't have let us get this far, right?"

Nortia nodded while her attention focused solely on the sapphire in Calum's palm. "So if I think about the potential benefits of having this stone, I will be able to harness its power?" 

"Yes, exactly. I know you're a selfless person at heart, you just need to manifest those feelings." Calum handed the sapphire back. "Try it again."

Nortia took the sapphire in her palm and closed her eyes. In her mind, she began to imagine Turan's smiling face. She could see herself handing Turan both of the gemstones and being praised for it. After that, she could see all of her loyal subjects bowing and worshipping Turan in complete harmony. It was beautiful, she thought. Opening her eyes, she could see the sapphire in her hand begin to glow like Calum's ruby.

"It's working!" Calum exclaimed. "By the gods, we can begin the ritual now!" 

"Excellent. It requires both of us, yes? I'm starting to remember, now," Nortia said.

"Yes, exactly. First, clutch the sapphire in your hand and ball it into a fist. Then, place your fist in front of your heart and take my hand. I will do the same thing. The goal is to achieve perfect unity and to harmonize our very souls," Calum explained.

Nortia stared at the sapphire in her hand before clutching it against her chest. The thought of absolute power made her smile. Their day of glory was so very near, after all these years of preparation. Everything will have been worth it, she thought. Nortia extended her hand outward and met with Calum's.

Together, they closed their eyes and felt the gentle warmth emanate from their respective gemstones. "Oh, heavenly gods," Calum began, "we call upon thee to bestow thine power amongst us, your true believers. We have heeded your will and strive to make it a reality. We are your hands; we will sculpt this world into the beautiful image you had left behind all those millennia ago. This world needs your divine intervention, now more than ever. O' Mighty Ones, we beg of thee: grant us the strength to spread your word and peace to all your beloved creations!" 

The ruby in Calum's hand began to burn brighter and brighter. With light came heat, of course. The ruby began to burn through her skin, scorching her flesh and blackening it. She bit down on her lip, knowing that divine intervention may not be completely painless. She began to sweat, but that wouldn't stop her now. Nothing could. 

Nortia did not feel the same burning pain as Calum did. Instead, she felt a migraine begin to overtake her. It felt as though her brain would split in half if she didn't concentrate as hard as she had been. She huffed and puffed as the pain only seemed to grow more intense. Speaking or wincing was absolutely out of the question--she was in far too much pain to describe it aloud. 

But then their pain subsided. It had disappeared just as quickly as they had begun, striking both of them as unusual. Nortia opened her eyes and glanced all around the room, then at Calum. "What happened to my headache?"

"I believe we shared our individual pains with each other. It became easier to bear when we held our hands. If we had tried to activate the gemstones without holding hands, we may have very well died as a result," Calum explained.

"Is there any record of that happening?" 

"Well, not as far as I am aware, but that pain was intense. I imagine it was meant to dissuade anyone from attempting to use the stones for their own selfish desires, somehow. My personal theory is that the gods wanted to test our resolve. Not only must we be selfless, we must also be worthy of their help." 

"So..." Nortia paused. "Do you feel any different at all?" She stared at the dull sapphire in her palm.

Calum's ruby had also stopped glowing. "I am unsure. I don't know what it feels like to have an affinity, but I'm sure I can figure it out. Let me see... water, fire, energy, or time? I wonder which one the gods would bless me with? I mean, I'm fine with anything--the gods would certainly know better than I would. I am just curious, is all." 

"I am a well-learned woman, Calum, but even I don't know how to manifest an affinity. I've been told it is much like throwing a ball or--"

"Or learning to walk?" Calum finished.

Nortia paused. "Yes, exactly. It's something that you can..."

"...Hone and practice?," Calum finished again.

"You keep finishing my sentences," Nortia complained.

"Yes, I know it is annoying. You don't have to tell me," Calum said.

"I didn't say that," she replied.

"...Didn't you? I heard you say it."

Nortia narrowed her eyes. "Can you predict what I'm about to say before I say it?"

"That appears to be my affinity, yes. How... exciting!" Calum grinned from ear to ear.

"Well, this is certainly interesting," Nortia admitted.

Calum grabbed both of Nortia's hands in her own. "Don't you understand?! They worked! This all worked! You should have an affinity too, you just don't realize it yet! The gods have truly blessed us on this glorious day! They really are watching over us!" She began to bounce on her feet, too excited to stay still. 

Nortia stared deep into Calum's eyes, unable to share her outward enthusiasm. There was something enticing about Calum's ochre eyes that caught her attention, something that she couldn't turn away from. Deep within her pupils, Nortia could see her own reflection, much like a mirror. 

Calum stopped bouncing around and settled down. She, too, began to stare into Nortia's eyes. Weirdly enough, she fell completely silent. The two shared the silence until Nortia broke it.

"Is everything alright?" she blinked. So did Calum.

"Yes, of course."

Nortia stepped back from Calum, all while maintaining eye contact. "Can you sit down?" she asked.

Calum stepped to her left and grabbed the chair in front of the desk. Obediently, she sat down and folded her hands in her palms. "I feel fantastic, thank you for asking, Nortia."

"I didn't ask how you were doing, yet."

"My apologies," Calum interrupted. "I can stop."

"Good."

She nodded. "Anything for you, Nortia."

Nortia had only just started to realize the implications of Calum's actions. Was she obeying her every command? Now _that_ was something Nortia could get behind. Nortia glanced away and reached for a pen and paper on her desk. As she did, however, Calum stood up and shook her head. "That felt a little weird..." she complained.

"What did?" Nortia refused to make eye contact.

"Well, I felt like I... hmm. How do I describe it? I feel a little bit lightheaded. I think I must have forgotten I sat down so I wouldn't pass out. Did I pass out?" she asked.

Nortia snickered. "If you did, it was only for the briefest of moments. Perhaps it is a side effect of your new affinity?" 

"I think you're right," she nodded along. "Any thought on what your affinity could be? Unless you somehow managed to give me a headache."

Nortia shook her head. "Not a clue."

"Well, I hope you find out sooner rather than later. I don't mean to alarm you, but your undead specialist could still be after me. Them and their friends, too. I had only narrowly escaped when I heard a sniper shoot through my office window. We need to be prepared in case your specialists failed to stop them."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. The gemstones should be more than enough to stop anyone who gets in our way."

"But what of the evidence about my involvement with the Thieves' Guild? I would have stolen it back from that unkillable specialist of yours, but I couldn't risk letting the gemstones fall into their hands. To be honest, I am afraid of them. I came here as quickly as I could because I knew they would try to follow me." 

Nortia nodded along as Calum spoke, making a clear effort not to make eye contact. "I see. You came to me for help, then?"

"This is how the gods will it, I suppose. This will be our final test, together. I feel as though the gods want to test our resolve once more. If we cannot overcome those four, then we cannot hope to change the world," Calum sighed.

"I'm not worried at all. If everything goes as how I imagine, then this should be over before it even begins. Swift and decisive, just how I would have wanted it to be." Nortia walked over to her desk and sat down in her chair. She glanced to the side, avoiding Calum's gaze.

"Thank you, Nortia. You really are..." Calum began to sweat. "Wait... No, you can't do that. Don't look at me! Stop!"

Nortia's eyes darted from the corner of the room to Calum's eyes. It was too late for Calum. By the time her predictive affinity had warned her, it was already too late. "You see, Calum, affinities really are like throwing a ball. Luckily for the both of us, I have spent my entire life waiting for this moment. My dedication to Queen Turan is stronger than anything else in this world. I will perfect this affinity until all bend to my will and, by extension, Turan's." 

Calum smiled quietly and obediently.

"You'll be part of something greater than yourself, as the gods will it. Isn't that what you wanted, Calum?" 

"If the gods will it, then it shall be," she said.

Nortia stood up from her desk and maintained eye contact. "I think I'm getting better at this already. Perhaps years of training my body and mind made me more adept at honing new skills. Even in my old age, I can still pick up new tricks. These gemstones really are something else, aren't they?" 

Calum nodded silently.

"I think I can keep you docile without looking you in the eye, now. Allow me to test this out." Nortia closed her eyes and glanced aside. Calum refused to move for ten seconds before Nortia met her gaze again. "I really am something special. Tell me, Calum, what do you hear right now? What's inside your mind?" 

"I can hear your voice, constantly. You're whispering in my ear, making me feel content when I listen to you. It really does feel wonderful," she explained. 

Nortia nodded. "I see. How likely are you to carry out any orders I give you without hesitation?"

"I believed wholeheartedly in the gods themselves. If the gods gave you this power, then this is their will. I will serve you without question."

"Good. Then we will practice strengthening my affinity until the rogues arrive." 

"What must I do?" Calum asked.

"Obey, to put it simply," Nortia smirked and chuckled to herself. "Queen Turan is going to _love_ this, you know. My first thoughts were about how she would just _adore_ having the legendary gemstones. But when she sees my affinity? When she finds out that I can bend the people to my will? The people will have no choice but to worship Queen Turan. It is the gods' will, don't you think?" 

Calum nodded. "Turan is an exemplary leader."

"Indeed. I swore my life to serve her like a goddess, and I think that these gemstones make the perfect offering." She leaned back in her seat and grabbed the cane at the side of her desk. "You know, to be perfectly honest, I was never that into mythology. History, yes, but I was never a very spiritual person. Queen Turan is, of course, so I studied as much as I could to serve her better. She saw potential in me that nobody else did." Nortia sat back up with her hands folded over the cane's handle. "I used to resent the gods, actually. Even though I never believed in them, I still felt like somewhere, somehow, they were watching and mocking us. Being told that they loved this world dearly, only to leave it shortly after creating it? No loving gods would ever do that."

Calum was silent.

"Of course, I'd never tell you this to your face. At least, not while you were... 'faithful'. But now that you see things the way I do, I can finally speak my true mind. It's quite the relief, I'll have you know," Nortia explained.

"Queen Turan is more loving than both of the gods...?" she asked.

Nortia nodded. "You don't understand the depth of her love for Sabine. She took over as queen while many residents of both of our respective nations still hated each other openly. Tensions have cooled mostly since then, and I can say with the utmost confidence that Queen Turan was the key player in rebuilding ties between Sabine and Catol. Were it not for her infinite patience and excellent decision-making skills, perhaps a second war would have broken out." Nortia leaned over her desk towards Calum. "She's saved countless lives. I may have taken a handful of them, but I plan for the future. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few--this should not be a controversial subject. I am a general and I exist to uphold the peace. I don't exist to save everyone. Neither does Queen Turan, but she does not deserve to have blood on her hands. I will gladly take the fall for my actions, so long as Queen Turan does not come to harm."

Calum smiled warmly, leaning back in her chair. "I will protect her with my life."

Nortia leaned back as well, smiling back. "Excellent." She reached to the phone on her desk and began to dial it. "I need your silence, Calum. I will tell you when you can speak again."

Calum nodded quietly.

The phone rang twice until a tired voice picked up. " _Yes?_ "

"Specialist Nunki, I have a new assignment for you. I need Void Witch now more than ever," Nortia said.

" _Who am I killing this time?_ "

Nortia grinned. "I think you'll take great pleasure in your targets. You are to hunt PFC Elric Inocencio, Corporeal Bellevoir, and Specialist Charlie. I am told that they are accompanied by a Simenti woman. She is considered expendable, too." 

" _You want me to kill Yori? You're certain?_ " Nunki asked.

"Specialist Charlie has poisoned all of their minds with falsehoods. They seek to undermine Queen Turan and upheave our very society as we know it. They cannot be reasoned with. You are authorized to use lethal force, Specialist Nunki. Understood?"

Nunki breathed a sigh of relief on the other end. " _Thank you very much, General Nortia. I'll carry out this task with utmost pleasure. May I make one request?_ " she asked. 

"Go ahead, Specialist Nunki."

" _I would like to have a spotter. Is there anyone who can fit this role?_ "

Nortia paused to think. "I believe we may have someone locked away who could be of some use. I believe Reblan was his name. His affinity is infrared vision, which should be invaluable for someone like you, correct?" 

" _Bring him to me. I'll have the rogues dead within hours_ ," Nunki promised. 

"I'll send for him now. Good hunting, Specialist Nunki." Nortia hung up the phone and grinned. 

Calum continued to stare quietly at Nortia, as still as a tree. 

"Now, where were we? I believe we were about to start honing my affinity. Are you ready, Calum?" 

"Yes, of course. Take as long as you need, Nortia," Calum grinned.

Nortia grinned as well. "Soon, the entire country will know what it means to be a true citizen. Queen Turan, I do this for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> become as gods become as gods become as gods


	42. Call of the Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, a spark ignites.

Covered by the dark of night, Elric, Yori, Calina, Charlie, and Annma (with a tied-up Disada in the trunk) arrived just a mile outside of Propietra City. Even though it had only been a few weeks since Elric and Yori left Sabine for the first time, it felt almost unrecognizable to them. There was something in the air that just felt so unfamiliar, so... _unusual_. They knew it was their home, but it sure didn't feel like it. Charlie and Annma were less nostalgic considering Propietra was not their hometown, of course. 

A knot welled up in everyone's stomachs--except Charlie's. It would all come down to this night. Come what may, everything ends here. Either Nortia and Calum would be stopped, or their decades-long plot will finally come to fruition. With most of the resistance against them slaughtered, Nortia and Calum had little to worry about, as far as they believed. 

"You know," Yori sighed as she stared out the window, "I feel terrible that I did nothing to stop Nortia while I had the chance. We had spent so long under her roof, learning underneath her, and I had no idea she was this... cruel."

Charlie glanced in the rearview mirror at Yori. "You didn't know. Now, you do."

Elric leaned back and turned his head to face her from the passenger's seat. "That's right, Yori. Had we known, we would have absolutely stopped her. We can't change the past." He turned back around and faced the front of the car. "It took me a while to learn that lesson. Who knew revolution was in my bloodline?" 

"I can think of worse things," Calina added. "Lacri wasn't exactly my bloodline, but he sure felt it. I don't miss him, you know. I just... I hate Calum. I hate what she did. This is all her fault, too. I _get_ Nortia is a piece of shit--really, I do--but Calum's gotta go down, too."

"Calina..." Yori rubbed her shoulder.

"She made my life a living hell, whether she did it on purpose or not. I won't be able to rest knowing she's still out there," Calina huffed.

Charlie glanced at the road, then back at Calina. "You'll get your chance, don't you worry. Once I get the evidence to Patch, we'll have a shot at taking them both down." 

"I sure fuckin' hope so..." Calina sighed. 

The car came to a sudden halt just on the outskirts of town. A familiar, run-down factory lay before them. Given another week or so, it may have resembled a brutalist art structure more than a once-habitable building. Charlie stepped out of the car first as everyone else followed suit. Of course, they couldn't just leave Disada in the trunk--he'd suffocate. Once everyone was out, Calina popped open the trunk and picked up the bound Disada and dumped him in the backseat. Despite his muffled complaints and protests, they slammed the doors shut and cracked the windows just enough to allow him to breathe. 

By the time they were done, Charlie's fingers were wrapped around the factory's door handle. Turning back to face Elric, they said, "You know, this is where... A lot of bad stuff happened here. Their bodies aren't here anymore, but..."

Elric shook his head. "I'll have time to mourn their passing when this is all over."

Charlie nodded and opened the door, quietly stepping inside. The soft creaking of old, metal catwalks and abandoned equipment filled the room. A distant screeching and grinding of once-functional conveyor belts conducted an orchestra of metallic wails. And yet it was still eerily quiet. 

The group entered the abandoned factory, only to have a mysterious figure drop down from the second floor. Landing in front of them, the rather short figure stood up and removed their hood. "Charlie, you brought friends. That's... new."

"Things change, Patch. They know everything and want to help," Charlie explained.

Patch glanced at everyone, her eyes tracing an imaginary line between them until her gaze caught Calina's and Elric's. "You two... I've heard of you. The Simenti here, I recognize her." Patch walked forward and sized Calina up. "You're from the Guild, aren't you?"

" _Was._ Kinda got fired, I guess you could say. I found out Calum ruined my life, so I'm tagging along to return the favor," she said.

Patch turned her attention towards Elric, then the ring on his finger. "So that's where hers ended up, huh?" Patch pulled out Ricard's ring from one of her pockets. "You must be their son, then. This belongs with you," Patch handed over Ricard's ring to Elric. 

Elric quietly took the ring and stared at it. It was definitely his father's, no doubt about it. The design was nearly identical to Aurora's, right down to the initials on the underside. He put it on his ring finger, right next to Aurora's. "Well, in one way or another, they're together," he said, feeling just a little bit of closure. 

"Here, Patch. I got something for you." Charlie pulled the folder detailing Calum's and Nortia's involvements in their plot to obtain the legendary gemstones and handed it to over. "Read it--you'll like it." 

Patch carefully flipped through the many pages of notes scrawled with excruciating detail. The handwriting was neat and orderly, making her wonder who wrote it. "Is this from Calum's office or something?"

They nodded.

"Poor bitch must've been paranoid that Nortia would betray her. Hell, she might still betray her. Lucky for us, I suppose. Her insurance just saved our sorry asses, too." 

"I need you to get this published. I'm trusting you to spread this as far and as fast as you can," Charlie reached for Patch's shoulder and planted their hand down. 

"You sound like you've got other plans. What's going on?" she asked.

Yori piped up. "We're going to stop them, here and now. They'll be brought to justice." 

Patch sighed and slid the folder into their coat. "Alright. I'll go by myself, then. You'll need all the help you can get if you've got your eyes set on them."

Moving Charlie out of the way, Elric walked forward and hugged Patch tightly and unexpectedly. Even though she was frozen in place, she still felt herself warming to his embrace. "Thank you," he said, "for everything. If you had his ring, they must have trusted you a great deal."

Patch couldn't break it to Elric that his parents didn't even know who she was. "I... Yeah. You're welcome."

Elric let go and took a moment to gather himself. "It's time to finish what you and my parents started. Safe travels, Patch."

Patch nodded and walked away. She opened the large doors out of the factory and stepped into the cold, night air. As she walked, a distant boom caught her attention. The next thing she knew, she was on the floor, writhing in pain. A burning hole had suddenly appeared where her knee used to be. The shock kept her from connecting the dots. 

She had been shot. 

"Patch!" Yori rushed towards the door, only for a second bullet to fly past her face. 

"Get down!" Elric shouted, tackling Yori away from the door and onto the ground. 

Charlie, Calina, and Annma hid behind a large crate as they stared outside. Patch had been screaming in pain, grabbing at her injured leg and attempting to clot the hole with her hands. Blood began to pool beneath her, causing her to get dizzier by the second. Her wails must have been audible for miles, Yori thought.

"Can't we help her?!" Calina shouted.

Yori clenched her fist and punched at the ground. "We can't! There's a sniper out there."

"How do you know that?" Elric asked.

"This is the oldest sniper trick in the book. Injure an enemy and wait for their comrades to help them. You want them alive so you can tempt more people into your sight lines. If we step outside, we're done for," Yori explained.

Annma began to sweat colder than she ever had before. "I know that gunshot. That sounds like..."

Yori already knew the answer, too. It was Nunki, no doubt about it. No one else in the army was as good of a marksman as her. There weren't very many people that could land such a precise shot so quickly in low-light conditions, let alone consistently. "We're not safe here, either. If Nunki knows we're here, then she can kill us even if we're behind cover. Our only hope is that we stay out of sight."

Calina asked, "How the hell can she do that?! Is that her affinity?!"

"I'm afraid so. She can make bullets blink in and out of reality. She can hit someone even if they're behind solid concrete walls. All she has to do is make the bullet disappear until it's right in front of you."

"Why isn't she shooting us right now, then?!" 

"I don't think she can see us. It's night, plus we're indoors. She could fire blindly, but that would reveal her position, which is something a good sniper should avoid unless absolutely necessary," Yori explained again. 

Patch reached her hand towards the door. She dragged her body closer and closer until Nunki fired another shot. The bullet was aimed straight for her skull but disappeared just before impact. Patch closed her eyes instinctively, thinking she was just about to die, only to hear the soft plink of metal on mud behind her.

"What's the plan?" Elric asked.

"I need to think..." Yori closed her eyes.

-

Nunki's barrel smoked as her second shot exploded out. With a blink of her eye, the bullet also blinked out of reality just before it could strike her target down. Dead bait was useless, after all. She grumbled as she wiped her hair out of her eyes--her sweat caused strands to fall loose and get in her way.

Frustratingly, she couldn't see through the factory's walls. She had hoped laying prone on the third floor of a building three hundred meters away would help, but the night sky made things a little bit trickier than she had anticipated. Moreover, there were far more than just a couple of rogues she needed to round up.

But it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. All she needed was a spotter. 

Even more frustratingly than not having x-ray vision, her spotter who _did_ have that affinity was quite the nuisance. Reblan, despite laying next to her, was far less useful than she'd desired. Needless to say, Nunki was losing her temper.

"How are you going to explain our failure to Nortia, Reblan? She knows I'm more than capable of killing them. If we don't, then she'll know it was your fault," Nunki growled. 

Reblan's wrists had been cuffed behind his back, a mild discomfort all things considered. "It's hard to see them, you know. All I can see is bodies, not faces. I can see a bunch of red-hot shapes that _look_ like Creaden, but that's about it. Who's your target, anyway?" he asked, for the tenth time. 

"All of them," she groaned. "Just tell me where to aim or I'll have your head." 

"But you'll never get them without me. Stop making empty threats and start making promises, instead." 

Nunki ground her teeth. "Fine. Just tell me which ones Yori and Charlie are. Yori's the cocky asshole and Charlie is the even cockier asshole." 

Reblan's jaw half dropped. "Charlie? Oh, wow, I remember them." He reminisced over Charlie's peaceful and understanding approach to interrogation than anything Nortia put him through. 

"Which one's which, Reblan? Focus harder," she said while checking her ammo magazine. Eight shots remaining. 

"I mean, I'll try, but like I said, it's going to be difficult." Reblan squinted his eyes, attempting to get a clearer picture of the small crowd inside the factory.

He could see a couple of warm bodies crouched behind crates or up against walls. Of course, there was also the poor bastard laying on the ground outside with her kneecap blown off. "I see your bait and, uh, five more inside. Six total." 

"Which ones are Yori and Charlie, Reblan?" Nunki repeated.

Reblan paused. If he tried hard enough, perhaps he could make out enough detail to identify someone. Of course, the only person he would recognize would be Charlie. But he wondered if he really _wanted_ to sell Charlie out like that. After all, they were helpful. What reason did he have to betray them now? 

He was hesitant about stalling Nunki much longer. While he never really got the chance to know her up close until recently, even he knew she could be a little... problematic. Her temper was more sensitive than a tooth with a cavity. At the drop of a bullet casing, Nunki could lose herself to her own emotions. 

"Why do you want to know about Yori? I swore Nortia only specified Charlie," he asked.

"She thinks she's so much better than me. She's Nortia's favorite. She's the best sniper, she's everything that Nortia thinks I'm not. I'm going to prove once and for all that I'm the superior one, here. Besides, she's a filthy rogue. She has it coming." 

"That's fucked up," Reblan spoke frankly.

"We'll see about that. Tell me where they are," Nunki demanded. 

"I'm trying," he stalled.

-

Annma chimed in. "What if I make clones of everyone and we escape one-by-one? She only has so many shots in her rifle. Isn't that right, Yori?"

Yori nodded. "Yes, of course. That rifle, though, it sounds... unusual. It's a newer model from what I could hear. It could even be semi-automatic, not bolt-action or flintlock."

"Which would mean...?" Elric trailed off.

"She could fire as quickly as she can pull the trigger. That rifle she has--I think it has a ten round magazine. Annma, can you make more than that many clones at once?" Yori asked.

"It would be incredibly difficult. Eleven would really be pushing it--I'd have to focus solely on keeping them stable. If I lose concentration, someone will die," she admitted. 

Yori rested her hand on Annma's shoulder. "I believe in you. This is our best chance to get out of here alive, right? I know you can do it, you just have to trust yourself." 

Annma's chest rose and fell gently. "You're right. I can do this." She let out a deep breath--one she didn't even know she was holding--and smirked. "Alright. Who am I cloning first?" 

"Patch. If we can get her inside, Elric can give her first aid. Once she's inside, I'll go first," Yori said.

"Where are you going?" Annma asked. 

Yori glanced out the window. There was a ladder just outside that would lead up to the roof of the factory. "On the roof. I'll provide covering fire so she's distracted."

Calina refused to allow that. "You can't! That's suicide!" 

"If I keep shadow clones on her at all times," Annma said, "she will be fine. I just have to concentrate heavily."

"While Annma and I are dealing with Nunki, the rest of you make your escape. Knowing her, she can't resist a chance to prove her superiority over me," Yori half chuckled. "I can't believe I'm actually considering this..."

Annma and Elric shared a glance, then nodded. "Are you ready, Elric?" she asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be. I'll retrieve Patch and, well, patch her up, I suppose. I should still have enough gauze and alcohol swabs, but I'll need some time before she can even consider limping away," he explained.

"Let's just focus on getting her inside. Go, Elric, go!" Annma closed her eyes and focused her affinity. 

Elric soon noticed an exact duplicate coalescing besides him, then another, and then another. A small, shadowy cloud took his exact appearance, down to the tiniest of details. He had seen this affinity in action a few times before but never has he looked at _himself_ like this. In all, there were five clones, plus the original. He didn't need to travel far outside to retrieve Patch. Four to distract Nunki while one dragged her inside would be sufficient. 

The six Elrics rushed outside as quickly as they could. One grabbed Patch by the shoulders and carefully hoisted her off the ground while keeping her knee elevated. A second clone helped lift Patch's lower body while the remaining ones acted as meat shields of sorts.

It didn't take long for Nunki to snipe out of the clones out of existence. One shot and the first clone shield had faded into a cloud of mist. A second shot destroyed the second clone, leaving only the original plus three. Elric began to realize just how much danger he was in. Nunki could shoot significantly faster than he had anticipated. 

The third clone was erased next, leaving only one left to defend Patch and the remaining two Elrics. The entrance to the factory drew ever nearer. Only a few more steps and they were home free. 

A fourth shot rang out, destroying the final shield. A fifth shot soon followed, and then there were no more clones. Only Elric and Patch remained. 

A sixth shot pierced through the night sky, but before it could hit Elric, something (or someone) jumped in front of the bullet. He could hear Yori shouting from inside.

"Come on! You're almost there, just go!" 

Elric, with one last burst of strength, dragged Patch inside the safety of the factory. They were out of sight, now. As far as they knew, they were safe indoors. After all, Nunki can't hit what she can't see, right?

-

Nunki growled again. "I shot them all, Reblan. How come they're not dead?!"

"Don't look at me. You'd know what's going on better than I would," he shrugged. 

"Crow..." Nunki balled her hand into a fist and pounded the floor next to her. "She's on their side, too."

"Friend of yours?" he asked.

Nunki glared at Reblan silently.

"...Right. 'Friend' is an awfully strong word for someone like you."

"What did you see, Reblan? Did her clones give off a different heat signature than a normal person does?" she asked.

Reblan knew full well that yes, shadow clones didn't actually generate any heat, and thusly wouldn't show up in his infrasight. Then again, Nunki would have no way of knowing that... "Looks like it does, actually. I had no idea until you told me." 

Nunki sighed. "Tell me where one of them is. I'm going to show them what fear _really_ is. I don't care who, just tell me where to aim." 

Reblan gulped. "Erm, you should aim..." he pointed three meters to the left of a window. "Someone's behind that crate, crouching down. Aim for the little crack in the side of the building." 

Nunki wasted no time. She pulled the trigger and watched her bullet soar through the air, only to disappear just before impact with the wall. She blinked the bullet back into existence after it cleared the wall.

-

Elric had laid Patch down gently, shoving a small box underneath her leg to elevate her wound. She couldn't stop growling or complaining about 'leaving her for dead' or 'just moving on'. But Elric refused to listen. As he reached into his pouches, he gathered the necessary equipment to sterilize the wound and clean it up as best as he could.

A bullet soared just past his head, flying in between his ears and hitting the wall behind him. His ears stung from the sharp winds as the bullet cut through the air just above his skull. Any higher up, and he would've been dead. His body froze up as a cold sweat pooled at the back of his neck.

"They know where we are," he shuddered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> considering this is a two-parter and also a sniper battle, i hope i'm doing hideo kojima proud
> 
> http://www.ign.com/videos/2014/03/21/hideo-kojimas-top-5-metal-gear-characters


	43. Broken Butterfly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, one shall fall.

Yori's eyes bulged as she stared at the crushed bullet on the floor. Any closer and Elric would have been gone for good. "She knows we're here... How...?"

Elric froze up, Patch had to grab his arm to get him to look down at her. "Leave me, dammit. I'm used to being hunted, but you guys need to take the folder and run. I can hold--" she hacked up some blood into her hands. "...I can hold them."

"You can't even hold your blood inside your body," Elric dismissed. 

"I'll go," Yori volunteered. 

Calina shook her head. "No way. You can't go up there by yourself. You're just gonna get--" Another bullet whizzed just above Calina's head. Her hair whipped around from the sheer force, causing some loose strands to fall in her eyes. 

Annma grabbed Yori by the shoulder. "I have an idea."

"What is it?" she asked.

"If I make enough clones, I can fool Nunki into thinking we're all fleeing to the roof. You and I will climb to the roof with four additional clones--one for Elric, Charlie, Calina, and Patch--we can throw them off. That oughta let the rest of them get away."

"But she can see us all," Elric mentioned. "How can we escape if she already knows where we are?"

"Because," Annma said, "it's Nunki we're dealing with. Remember?"

"She has a grudge against me," Yori recalled. "I'm the only one here who can reach her at all. Once I get onto the roof, I'll be able to find her position and return fire. We have no other options except to wait around here and let her pick us off one by one, Elric." 

Elric's ears drooped. "I am not a fan of this plan, but... I believe in you, Yori. I've seen your skills in action, so I know you will be our guardian angel."

"I can carry Patch," Calina offered. "Might be a little hard, but I'm the strongest one here. How's that sound, Charlie?"

Charlie was silent at first. "I can get behind this plan. I don't want to abandon Patch."

"You can say Bardle. The jig is up, anyway. I never liked that name, to be honest--always felt so tacky," she coughed. 

"It's settled, then." Yori glanced back at Annma. "Thank you, Annma. I'll be counting on you." 

"Same to you. My affinity's not gonna be enough to take her down. But you--I know you can do it. I'm just giving you a fair chance against her bullshit affinity."

Elric's disappointed eyes met Yori's. He knew Yori was more than capable of handling herself, but he still couldn't help but worry. "Stay safe, Yori."

"You too, Elric," Yori said. 

Annma turned her attention towards a window on the wall behind her. "There's a ladder on the outside. We can climb up there, Yori. You ready? I'll make a couple of clones when you climb--it oughta distract them."

"Alright, thank you. I'm ready," she nodded. She took charge and climbed out of the window and attached to the ladder. Slowly but surely, she began her ascent up the side of the abandoned factory. As she climbed, a clone flanked above her and beneath her. She didn't even notice Annma had already conjured them, let alone surround her with them. She was thankful that Annma was on the ball.

Annma followed Yori up the ladder. For good measure, she made a few clones of herself, too. It didn't seem to matter, though, since none of Nunki's shots hit any of them. Was her spotter just that bad? Or was something wrong with Nunki?

Yori was the first to reach the top of the abandoned factory. All around her were suitable covers for a sniper, including vent shafts, large fans, rotted crates, and overturned smokestacks. But none of them would work against Nunki. Nowhere was safe thanks to her ability to shoot bullets through solid objects. Worse yet, if Nunki's spotter could see them through walls... 

"We have to find out where they're shooting from. This is our best chance," Yori crouched down behind the debris of a fallen over smokestack. With her rifle in hand, she carefully loaded it. Live ammunition, ready to kill. She knew Nunki wouldn't hesitate, so neither should she. Still, it didn't feel good, knowing that she would have to make that choice soon. 

Annma crouched behind Yori and huddled up close. A total of four clones flanked them-- two on either side--for safe measure. Or so they thought.

-

Reblan's binoculars made it a lot easier for him to track Nunki's targets. Although even with his infrasight affinity, his inability to describe their positions accurately to Nunki hurt her overall accuracy. 

"You're disappointing me, Reblan," Nunki growled.

"I can't help it! I'm not used to this whole 'spotter' thing!"

"You just need to tell me _where_ they are."

"I can't... There's something funny going on. I see six warm bodies on the roof right now, plus four more at the ground floor," he lied.

Nunki glanced over at Reblan. "That can't be right. You're just fucking with me, aren't you?"

"N-no. It's the truth, I swear."

Nunki stared down her scope at the toppled over smokestack. "There's someone behind there, yeah?"

Reblan nodded.

Nunki pulled the trigger. The bullet exploded out of her rifle's barrel and soared through the air, disappearing just before impacting the smokestack. Once the bullet cleared the rubble, Nunki blinked it back into reality, striking her target down. 

"You got it. They're..."

"They're _what_ , Reblan?" Annma ground her teeth together.

"That wasn't a person. Their heat signature--it just... it disappeared. Their body didn't fall over or anything, it... it's gone." Again, he lied.

Nunki released her rifle's magazine and began loading in her next set of rounds. "Son of a bitch. She thinks she's so clever, doesn't she? Turning her back on me like that? I always knew she would play dirty."

"Who?" Reblan asked.

"Black Crow. She's using her clones to throw off your infrasight."

Reblan's palms felt like faucets with how much he was sweating. Of course he knew there weren't _actually_ six people on the roof. Clones didn't produce heat, only living beings did. He could still tell where they were by where heat was completely _absent_ , however. To him, Annma's clones appeared as pure black, amorphous blobs. 

Thankfully, Nunki couldn't see what he saw. But he still felt worried she would figure that out sooner or later. He wanted no part in this.

"What should we do...?" he asked.

"Tell me where they are. I'll pick them off until we hit the real ones," she cocked her rifle and stared down the scope. "I've got all the time in the world." 

-

One of Yori's two clones dissipated as Nunki's bullet pierced her chest. It made her feel sick, seeing something that looked like her disappear. She was just thankful it wasn't her or Annma. "Looks like she's directly in front of us. With the way the bullet traveled, she's somewhere to our right. The next building is about... 300 yards, so about 0.9 milliradians in the same direction."

"What the hell does that mean...?" Annma whispered.

"Trying to determine her position. It's how far I need to angle my scope until I line her up," Yori said. 

"So, you know where she is?"

"Not quite, but I have a good idea," Yori readied her rifle. "There's a small hole in the rubble. I think I can line up a shot there."

"What about your scope?" Annma took the time to create a second clone for Yori. 

"I already have an idea where she is. Assuming she hasn't moved, at least." Yori crawled on her stomach until her barrel poked through a small hole between the toppled smokestack's bricks. Making the appropriate adjustments relative to her position, Yori lined up the shot blindly. Her finger wrapped around the trigger before squeezing it tightly, discharging her first shot. 

-

"Where are they now?" 

"Erm," Reblan glanced through his binoculars. He could see someone getting on their stomach as two more shadowy blurs surrounded them. Before he could explain what he saw, a sudden flash of heat burst out from within the smokestack. 

The bullet sailed across the sky until it reached Nunki. It cut the air around her as Yori's shot hit her in the shoulder. She bit down on her lip and cursed, dropping her rifle. Blood spilled out of her uniform and onto the tile below, staining it a deep crimson. 

"Holy shit!" Reblan screeched.

Nunki, mustering all of her strength, kicked Reblan. "Shut _up_. You're going to make it worse."

"You got shot! How did she even see you?!" 

"I said..." Nunki clutched the stock of her rifle and bashed it against Reblan's skull. "Shut. Up." 

The impact wasn't hard enough to knock him out, but it did make him dizzy. His vision blurred just enough to be disorienting, but not enough to make him vomit or anything. "Y-yes..."

"I'll kill her myself, with or without your help," Nunki growled, letting go of her shoulder. "Yori. Even now, you can't shoot to kill. Well, I know where you are, and unlike you, I won't hesitate." Her finger choked the trigger, her barrel aimed directly for where Yori's muzzle flash was. The bullet exploded out of her rifle and soared through the air with killing intent. 

-

Yori paused, wondering if her shot was a killing blow. If it wasn't she was in trouble. Deciding to play it safe, she got back onto her knees. However, as she did, a bullet sailed through the rubble. She didn't even hear it coming--it snuck up on her through the void. It struck her rifle's scope, shattering the glass into thousands of fragments. 

Thankfully, she had already gotten out of the way. Any sooner and she would've looked like Elric. Or worse. 

"Are you okay?!" Annma shrieked. She didn't see blood, but she had no idea if it was just too dark too see it or not. 

"I'm fine. My rifle, though..." Yori crept slowly away, lifting the damaged rifle off of the ground. She un-slotted the scope and brushed away any residual glass from her gun. "Looks like I'll be running old-school, now."

"I don't... How are you going to hit her like that?" 

"With great difficulty, but I've practiced without a scope. It's been a while, though..." Yori admitted. "Can you cover me? I need to change positions. I see a smokestack that's still standing on the other side of the roof--no more than forty meters away. I just need a few clones to cover me while I run."

Annma glanced over towards the smokestack in question. It was one of two that were still upright, but this one had numerous cracks along the side. It looks as though a gentle breeze would topple it over. "Why there?"

"How many clones do you think it'll take to catch me if I fall?" Yori asked. 

It took a moment for Annma to catch onto Yori's plan. "What the hell are you planning?"

A bullet sailed through the air, just barely missing Annma's shoulder.

"You'll see. Make some clones and I'll sprint towards the smokestack. Are you ready?" Yori asked.

Annma nodded. Closing her eyes, she focused all of her attention on making six clones of Yori, all of whom would likely perish before she even reached the tower. There was no part of this plan that wasn't risky, but if Yori suggested it...

The clones gathered in front of Yori, shielding her from Nunki's rage. She wasted no time--she burst into a sprint, hopping over rocks and rubble as she darted across the roof. One by one, the clones fell. Ear-piercing booms echoed through the silent night sky. Yori balled her fists and continued running. She needed the high ground now, more than anything. 

But still, she couldn't tear her sight away from versions of herself--people that might as well have _been_ her--falling and dying. It didn't feel right. She had to keep telling herself that they weren't really alive, that they didn't feel or exist. They were just fakes, clones, duplicates, doubles, nothing like her. But they _were_ her, for all intents and purposes. They looked, moved, and behaved as she did. 

As the clones disappeared, Yori quietly wished that would be the last one to die. Annma was clearly doing her best just to keep up with Nunki's reckless potshots. Now, more than ever, Yori thoroughly appreciated everything Annma was doing for her.

Yori reached the smokestack and pressed her back against it. Now facing away from Nunki, she took a moment to take a deep breath. All the remaining clones--all two of them--stood in front of the tower, towards Nunki. The firing stopped briefly, making Yori wonder if Nunki was reloading or if she finally caught on to the clones. 

Nunki's next shot rang out, striking down the penultimate clone. One remained. Now was the time to act, Yori thought. She needed to scale the tower quickly before Annma could pick her off. Spinning around, she sized up the pillar in front of her. Loose bricks made a makeshift path towards the top, but she only needed about ten meters to have a significant advantage over her former comrade. 

Annma continued to create clones, making as many as quickly as she could. Not even half of them could reach the smokestack before Nunki picked each one off. "Gods damn those semi-automatic rifles..." she muttered. 

-

"How many of these clones must I kill before they give up?" Nunki asked herself. Unloading the cartridge, Nunki quickly slipped ten rounds and loaded the gun. Her gun could fire as fast as she could pull the trigger--shooting the clones felt more like target practice than anything. 

Reblan spoke up. "I see there's more coming, Nunki. If you let too many of them through, they'll--" 

"I know. Just tell me where Yori is, already. She's hiding behind that pillar, isn't she?" 

"I think she moved on. It could be a clone, too," he suggested.

"They're planning something. She's going to try and sneak up from behind one of the towers and shoot me while I'm reloading. It's a classic technique," she mentioned.

"I wouldn't know," he shrugged. 

Nunki ground her teeth together again. "She's trying to whittle me down. She thinks she's so fucking clever. Tell me, little miss genius, what would happen if I did... this?" She aimed at the pillar she believed Yori to be hiding behind. This time, however, she had no intention of striking Yori.

Her bullet soared through the sky and slammed into the pillar. Normally, bullets wouldn't do much against bricks, but time had worn them down and loosened them. Moreover, Nunki's rounds were significantly more powerful than a typical handgun's round. One dislodged brick and the entire tower could start to sway and shake. 

Nunki wanted to dislodge all of them. 

-

Yori's foot dug into the smokestack as she began hoisting herself skyward. With her rifle slung around her back, she began her ascent. Her foot rested against each brick, clinging onto the wall for dear life. Only now did she realize just how high off the ground she was. On the upside, Nunki had stopped firing at her or her clones. Little did she realize Nunki had other plans. 

"Just a little further..." Yori told herself. There was a small perch she could latch onto and take her potshot from. All she needed to do was climb three more meters and she was there. Then, at the worst possible time, a brick fell from the top of the tower and screamed past Yori. Just narrowly avoiding a rooftop concussion, Yori realized just how precarious her current situation was. She would need to be quick if she wanted to make it off alive. 

The wind howled around her. It felt eerily like nature wanted to push her off more than anything else right now. The harsh breeze bit at her ears, her lips, and her eyes, drying them out and making her blink rapidly just to see straight. Chapstick was the least of Yori's necessities right now, however, as she felt the bricks beneath her hands and feet sliding with every move she made. Quicksand may have felt more stable than this, she thought. 

Finally, Yori reached her vantage point. While it was hardly ideal, there was enough room for her to stand (somewhat) comfortably. It would suffice for a single shot, but anything more would be foolish. If Nunki caught her up here, there was nowhere to run. She was banking on Nunki's being distracted not to die immediately. Grabbing the rifle from her back, Yori cocked it and readied it. One hand wrapped around the handle, the other on the barrel. Remembering Nunki's relative position, Yori just needed to account for gravity, any windspeed, potential shifts or sways from the tower, and, of course, her iron sights. Not having a scope sucked, she thought. 

Staring down her sights, Yori locked onto Nunki's position. Somehow, she had barely moved at all. Did Nunki forget that a good sniper should always be on the move once their position is known? Or did she simply not care? It didn't matter--it was easier for Yori this way. She readied herself and made the necessary adjustments, accounting for all the little details she could remember. 

-

Bullet by bullet bounced off the brick smokestack. A couple had finally given way and fallen down onto the roof. The tower began swaying noticeably now, like a tree in a hurricane. 

"That should collapse on her," Nunki hoped. "If not, she'll be an open target."

"You really think so...?" Reblan asked.

"She has no other plans. She can't run to either side, she can't hop down from the roof. Once that tower falls, she's going to be completely exposed. I would've killed her sooner, no thanks to you, Reblan." 

"Hey!" Reblan cried. "We got those clones really good, didn't we? If it weren't for me, you'd have no idea which ones were which!"

Nunki didn't react at first. "Is that so?" She reached into her ammo sack and pulled out a small sidearm. An easily concealed handgun, one which Reblan hadn't noticed. "You haven't been lying to me, have you, Reblan?" 

"N-no. I wouldn't lie to you, honest to gods," he stammered. 

"Where is Yori right now?" she asked.

Reblan took a deep breath and concentrated his focus on the smokestack. To his surprise, he saw a warm body scaling the side of it. That must have been Yori, he thought. What the _hell_ was she planning? He couldn't tell her that Yori was climbing up the side of the pillar--she'd be too easy of a shot then. "She's... behind the pillar. Standing. You can get her now if you hurry."

Nunki glanced upward instead, ignoring Reblan's instructions. "If she's on the ground, how come I can see her barrel sticking out from the side of the pillar? She doesn't look like she's on the ground at all."

Reblan gulped. "M-maybe it's one of her clones? It's hard to tell..." The next thing Reblan felt was a hot burning sensation in his thigh. His mind had blanked out the crashing boom of Nunki's pistol discharging and the flash of light erupting from the barrel. He grabbed his leg and writhed in pain, watching the viscous crimson pour out of the small hole Nunki had punched in him. 

"My next shot better land on Yori's head, or the next one will land on _yours_. Got it?" Nunki quietly tucked the pistol away in her pouch. 

Reblan bit his lip, trying his best not to cry right then and there. "Y-yes..."

Nunki reoriented herself and stared down the scope of her rifle, aiming skyward towards Yori's approximate position. "Just you and me now, Yori. As it should always have been."

-

The tower began swaying too much for Yori's comfort. It was making taking the shot already more difficult than it had to be. Then, she saw a small fireball come out of Nunki's side. The shot wasn't aimed at her, so who was she firing at? Her own spotter? It would have sickened Yori if she wasn't already fearful for her own life. 

Then, just as her worst fears predicted, the tower crumbled. Bricks fell from her grasp and collapsed to the world below. She slipped from her perch and began free falling--if she had any wind left in her body, she would've been screaming. Instead, she was eerily calm. Despite the 'ground' beneath her giving way to the open air, she still knew she had a job to do. She trusted Annma and her affinity. She would be safe.

In an act of final desperation, Yori lined up the shot onto Nunki. She aimed high, compensating for her downward acceleration. 9.81 meters per second squared, the acceleration due to gravity. It was now or never...

Yori fired her last shot. The bullet sailed through the air until it struck Nunki. Yori swore she could hear the sound of Nunki's flesh and fur burning and collapsing around the bullet. It was a direct hit. 

Mission completed.

Yori closed her eyes and let go of her rifle. Somehow, she believed she would be falling forever, and decided to let go of her thoughts entirely. Instead, she felt the (somewhat) soft cushion of her own clones catching her fall. They were crushed under her weight, but she landed safely on the roof. 

No injuries to speak of. While Yori was glad she survived, she didn't feel good about what she did. But knowing what Nunki was capable of, it was better this way. Nunki wouldn't hesitate--so neither could she. 

Once this was all over, Yori would have the time to sort through her feelings. But for now, she had more work to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i gasped when i saw when i saw the banner my partner drew for this chapter


	44. Lusus Naturae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, sides are crossed.

It didn't make anyone happy to abandon Yori and Annma like that, but it was the only way to ensure _somebody_ would escape. Worst case scenario, Nunki strikes down Yori and Annma, and everyone else is a sitting duck in the factory. Luckily for them, their gamble that Nunki would focus only on Yori was spot on. 

Elric had been carrying Patch most of the way until he finally set her down on the ground. The bullet hole in her knee wasn't looking any better--not like it would, anyway. Nobody had the chance to give her proper medical care for quite some time now. It became increasingly obvious she would not be able to spread Calum's evidence around as they had planned. Patch suggested leaving her somewhere public so that a passerby could take her to the nearest hospital. Elric insisted on treating her injuries right then and there, but deep down he knew that she needed more proper medical attention. 

The problem was, if they took her to the hospital, they could be recognized. They had no idea if Nortia sent out wanted posters or anything for each of them. In the end, they settled on leaving her against the side of a building. The building itself was in a semi-public area--people walked by semi-frequently, but given the time of night, it was quite the crapshoot. Still, Patch insisted they carry on without her. Elric gave her some gauze, a splint for good measure, and enough alcohol swabs to get drunk with. It was a bittersweet farewell, but hopefully, it would not be a permanent one.

Elric, Calina, and Charlie made their way across Propietra, making sure not to draw any undue attention towards themselves. It was quite the long walk, but in reality was not far at all. Their paranoia and fear made each step feel like a mile, every building they passed a potential chance to be spotted and captured. They were shielded by the night sky and thankfully, their eyes had long since adjusted to the darkness. But still, the closer they got to the military base, the scarier it became. Night patrols were hardly a rare occasion, especially for someone like Nortia. 

"We'll go in through the back. I used to sneak in this way when Nortia finally let me have some freedom," Charlie suggested. 

"And then what?" Elric asked.

Calina clutched her fists, her fingers itching to wrap around her swords' handles. "I'm fine if you two go on ahead to take out Nortia. I can handle Calum on my own." 

"No," Charlie said. "We don't need to take them on directly, at all. We have a better option available to us." 

"We still have the folders we stole from Calum. What about those?" Elric asked again.

"That's exactly it. I'm sure you're aware, then, that any military base worth its salt has a public announcement system. Should any emergencies arise, whether it be an invasion, a natural disaster, or something in-between, military bases around the nation would sound-off scripts to the surrounding population. Nortia has the ability to broadcast messages around the area, and if we can connect to the telephone lines that run across the country, we can mass-broadcast Nortia's crimes." 

Elric nodded along to Charlie's explanation. "I suppose that is currently military technology. Hence why we have to come back here at all?"

Charlie nodded. "Mmhm."

"I wanna take 'em out, though," Calina said.

"We shouldn't even need to fight them. We have the advantage in this situation. Once they're powerless, we can finally end it all. But first, we need to sway public opinion against them. Knowing how Nortia is, I'm willing to bet my life that there's another rebellion lurking somewhere in the shadows, just waiting to strike," Charlie sighed in remembrance of their fallen comrades. 

"Bettin' your life doesn't really mean much, does it? You've got a lot of them," Calina pointed out. 

"I would hardly call this a life, Calina. If I could take this all back, I absolutely would. I still don't know what I plan to do once this is all over--if it ever ends. Now isn't the time for this, though." 

The military base rose from the horizon, taunting them. Despite everything that ever happened, this was the one building that they would always come back to. Yori may have once thought of this as her home, but neither Elric nor Charlie saw it as such. To them, it was a hell unlike any other. And to think, all this time, Elric was _this_ close to the one who killed his parents. He could feel his blood boiling just thinking about it. 

For Nortia's sake, she'd better hope he doesn't find her. 

Charlie took to the front of the party and gathered Elric and Calina outside the base's back entrance. Surprisingly, even for Charlie, it was nearly empty. Nobody patrolling outside, and, glancing through the windows, it didn't look like there was anybody inside, either. 

"This doesn't feel right," Charlie muttered. 

"Should we go in?" Calina asked.

"I'll take point. Follow my lead and we should be fine. Just keep quiet and hide your tail, Elric."

Charlie quietly opened the door inside. Gently and slowly, they pushed the door just enough to let everyone slip through. Once everyone was in, they closed the door just as quietly as they had opened it and glanced all around. The hallways were empty and dark, almost eerily so. The lamps that once illuminated long and proud hallways instead were snuffed out. Charlie wondered if Nortia really hated the light. 

Thankfully, they could still see well in the darkness. Paintings, medals, and various other war-related knickknacks hung from the walls. Tables and lamps flanked either side of the hallway as a long, tongue-like carpet draped out before them, inviting them deeper into the bowels. Elric and Calina feared for their lives, unlike Charlie, who feared failure. 

"Where do we start?" Calina whispered.

Charlie glanced down the hallway and noticed a door half-open on the right side. It creaked and groaned, drawing their attention inward. "In there, I guess." Reaching for their gun, Charlie quietly wrapped their fingers around the handle and crept down the hallway. Once they were outside the room, Charlie glanced inside. 

It was dark--perhaps even darker than the hallway--inside the room. All they could see were vague shapes of what _might_ be furniture. The room seemed to be void of life, but without the lights, it was impossible to tell. Whether it was the right choice or not, Charlie slithered their hand into the room and flicked the light switch. In a flash, the room illuminated, revealing someone's back.

A person, likely a Simenti, considering their blue skin, stared at the wall away from the entrance. They didn't move at all, despite the lights suddenly springing to life. Charlie didn't even realize just how weird it was to be staring at the wall in darkness. 

As quietly as they could, Charlie entered the room with their gun drawn and trained at the person's back. Getting a better view, they could see the Simenti had been wearing a black tailcoat and black dress pants. "Calum Algolin, president of Catol."

Calum didn't turn around. She continued staring at the wall as if nothing in the world mattered. 

Elric and Calina entered the room, both equally confused and surprised at what they saw. Why was Calum staring at the wall across the room? She had been standing with her hands folded in front of her, inches away from the wall. There was nothing unusual to stare at either, only a framed portrait of Nortia. 

"Calum!" Calina drew her blades, pointing them at her back. "Stop staring and get over here!" 

Calum still didn't move. 

"...Okay, I do not usually get creeped out, but this is something else," Elric shuddered.

"Calum, I have proof of your involvement with not only the Thieves' Guild, but also with Nortia. You knowingly supported a tyrant who murders her own people. What do you have to say for yourself?" Charlie barked.

Somehow, this was enough to get Calum's attention. She quietly turned around, revealing her gentle smirk. Her face had nary a care in the world, despite being held at gunpoint, swordpoint, and oarpoint. "Isn't it wonderful?" she asked.

"The only wonderful thing here is how I'm gonna feel after I kick your ass," Calina said.

Calum glanced back at Nortia's portrait, then Calina. "I finally understand, Calina. Lacrimosa wasn't a fit leader. I'm sorry that I ever put you under his care--it's clear to me now that it wasn't right for you. He never knew what he was doing; he was always living in the past. What you needed was someone who thought ahead towards the future, someone who could see beyond this mortal coil. It's not too late, you know." Calum held out her hand towards Calina and Calina alone. "You can make this all worth it if you just believe in Her." 

"Unless you're talking about Yori, I'm not believing in whatever crazy bitch you're talking about."

Calum dropped her hand to her side and huffed. "I knew you would say that. However..." She smirked again. "Nortia and I--we have become gods. We are the deities of legend reincarnated. Granted, we are only at a fraction of our full power, but Nortia says that we will soon ascend to the highest plane of existence possible. But even now, despite this, I am gifted with the power of foresight."

"Blah, blah, blah. Where's Nortia?" Calina rolled her eyes. "Hey, Charlie, I'll take care of Calum. You and Elric can go find Nortia and fuck her up."

"You know, Nortia gave me very specific instructions. She told me that Elric and Charlie were far too dangerous to let go. As such, I have no choice," Calum said. She turned her attention towards Charlie. "You're quite dangerous, aren't you? I can see it in your eyes: death has come for you many a time, but not once has it claimed you. I'll be honest, I don't think even I could beat you. Just look at how you're holding that gun."

Charlie's gripped their pistol firmly and calmly. The gun barely swayed at all and was constantly trained on Calum's head, ready to fire at a moment's notice. 

Calum's eyes darted from side to side, her expression changing randomly and silently. She looked as though she been having a silent conversation with an invisible entity before her. "Yes, I understand. Nortia has made it clear to me that I shouldn't try fighting you, Charlie. I do not fear death, but..."

In the blink of an eye, Calum dropped to the floor. Just as she hit the ground, Charlie fired but missed Calum entirely. Standing back up, Calum applauded Charlie's efforts. "Absolute precognition is quite the blessing, don't you think? I know your every move." Calum wagged her finger. "Try it again. Perhaps my first demonstration wasn't enough to convince you?" 

Charlie couldn't resist the taunt. They fired again, only for Calum to dive to the other side moments before the bullet could connect. "Fuck this..." Charlie muttered, holstering their gun. 

"I can tell you're planning on running away, Charlie. You're about to dart out of here and leave Elric and Calina to me, yes? You trust them to take me down?" Calum asked.

An impossible decision lay before Charlie: run away now, or stay and help Elric and Calina, but risk Nortia getting away. Just a few weeks ago, this choice wouldn't have even crossed their mind twice, but now, knowing Elric and Calina so well...

"Go on, Charlie," Elric nodded. "Calina and I can take care of her; you've got bigger fish to fry."

"Yeah, what he said!" Calina added. "I wanna take care of her myself. You've got your own grudge to iron out, so get going while you still can! Go!"

It pained Charlie to think about just leaving them behind. It was so easy before! Every time they looked into Elric's eye, they could see the fire of determination burning behind them, much like Aurora and Ricard once had. The family resemblance really is uncanny, they thought. 

Every time they looked at Calina, they saw a fierce former thief, robbed of everything she held dear. It only just hit them now, but Charlie realized just how similar they were to Calina. After all, the most dangerous people in this world are the ones who have nothing left to lose. 

What was it that Charlie was feeling? Better question: _why_ was Charlie feeling? It felt a little overwhelming, realizing that despite everything, a small Light of Truth has been reformed. Although it was hardly anything to boast, it was still... Charlie never could've imagined it. They wondered if the rest of the members would be proud.

"Alright," Charlie gave a thumbs up. "See you two on the other side. Stay safe." 

"You as well," Elric returned the gesture.

Charlie holstered their pistol and darted out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them. Now was not the time to look back or get lost in thoughts. Now was the time to act, and failure would spell the end. But not this time, Charlie thought. This time, everything changes.

-

Racing down the hallways, Charlie made their way through the base towards Nortia's office. If she was anywhere, it would have to be there. Despite being locked in a cell for months on end, even Charlie knew that Nortia stayed in her office whenever possible. 

Charlie soon stood before Nortia's office. A gentle, warm light poured out from underneath the door, contrasting the infinite darkness around them. Someone was definitely in here. The door was shut but unlocked, oddly enough. All they had to do now was turn the handle, barge inside, and everything would end. Getting the drop on Nortia shouldn't be difficult--the hard part was deciding whether or not to just shoot her before she could even react. 

No, they thought. Nortia deserves to suffer for what she's done. If they just wanted petty revenge, they would have killed Nortia months ago.

Charlie kicked Nortia's door in and stormed inside. Their eyes scanned the office until they met Nortia's expecting gaze. She had been sitting in her chair with her hands folded under her chin, her elbows digging into the desk beneath her. Nortia didn't even jump at the sudden noise. Somehow she was oddly tranquil. 

But this wouldn't deter Charlie. "Nortia, it's all over." They pointed their gun directly at Nortia's forehead. "I have proof of your misdeeds, and I intend to make them public to the entire country. I am placing you under arrest for crimes against Sabinese citizens, including conspiracy, murder in the first degree, corruption, and collusion with foreign powers. My friends are taking down Calum as we speak, and you have no other allies to speak of. What do you have to say?"

"Cute," Nortia said.

"We both know the truth, Nortia. You don't need to hide it any longer. I'll make you pay for what you did to the Light of Truth all those years ago." 

Nortia rolled her eyes. "The Light of...? Oh, them. It's honestly been so long I hardly remember."

"You've been sending specialists after Bardle ever since you massacred them in the factory outside of Propietra and in the forest nearby. How can you possibly not remember?!" Charlie snarled.

"I'm growing old. My memory just isn't what it used to be." Nortia stood up and grabbed her cane from the wall. "I'm going to die someday, Charlie. We are mortal, well, excuse me for assuming we're both _alive_. What I meant to say is, all living people die. But you know what never dies?" Nortia asked.

"Me," Charlie held a hand to their chest. 

"No," Nortia wagged her finger. "Ideas. Beliefs. Legends will never die, not completely. As long as somebody exists to tell the tale, our stories will last. Many people believe they can make themselves truly immortal... but look at you. You aren't a person, you're a monster."

"You're one to talk. Ever since you shot me in the head and buried me in a hillside, I've never been quite the same. Forgive me for changing a little bit," Charlie said.

"Your body may have survived the ordeal, but I can already tell you were not the same person you were all those years ago. Isn't that right, _Shanalotte_?" 

"How... How do you know my real name?" Charlie felt their grip waver ever so slightly.

Nortia glared at Charlie, staring deep into their eyes. "I can read you like a long, drawn-out book. Your story is so tragic. You see, I have an affinity. All I need to do is make eye contact with you, and then..."

Charlie's hands shook uncontrollably. They quaked much like a bookshelf in an earthquake would. "I... I..." The words were caught in their throat, unable to manifest themselves. They knew they had to act fast, before...

Their finger squeezed the trigger and a shot rang out, but it only just grazed Nortia's shoulder. The bullet struck the wall and clinked to the floor disappointingly. The gun fell out of Charlie's grasp as they collapsed to the floor, grabbing their head in their hands. Intrusive thoughts swirled around their mind--thoughts that were not their own. Things they would never imagine in their life filled their mind.

_You've fought to get here. You died countless times._

_But why?_

_You know you never stood a chance. You ran as much as you could to avoid confronting your worst fears._

_The gnawing thought that you never wanted to acknowledge._

_Did you really think you could defeat a **god**?_

The thoughts swarmed Charlie, each one screaming in their ears. What was once their thoughts, their consciousness, their being, had been drowned out by Nortia's will. 

_Why did you even bother? If you wanted to give up, you could have done so much sooner. There was no need for this at all. Useless. Hopeless._

"No!" Charlie screamed. "This... This isn't pointless. It never was. I..."

_You are so easily swayed by your emotions._

"My emotions do not control me..."

_Then what drives you so?_

"My... my..."

_I will be your guide through the darkness. The Light of Truth was never going to show you the way. Only I, Nortia, can do that._

"You're lying!" Charlie grit their teeth.

_You know I'm not. You've been aimless for so long. Your fight is over, Shanalotte. Your fathers are waiting for you._

"My... fathers?" Charlie's eyes began to well up.

_Finn. Dagda. I can reunite you with them. They miss you dearly, Shanalotte._

"They don't even know who I am anymore. They haven't seen me in over fifteen years. Stop trying to--"

_Stop trying to what? Tell you the truth? Isn't that what you and the others fought so hard for? Exposing the truth behind the lies?_

"Why would I... Why _should_ I trust you? You killed us all!"

_Surely you understand sacrifices must be made. After all, how much have you given up just to get here?_

"Nnh..."

_I can feel it. You know, you're so much easier to read than Calum. I didn't think it was possible; she wears her heart on her sleeve. But you're far more interesting than she could ever be. Maybe your spirit-based affinity is what's giving me more... insight into your essence. I can feel how your affinity dominates your 'life'--if you can even call it that. Why did you even bother, then? Why didn't you stay buried in that hill if you really didn't want to find your fathers?_

"I wanted to expose the truth."

_That's what you say, but inside you're just a scared child who misses their parents. You never really grew up, just old. You miss the simpler days._

"Who doesn't? It's..."

_We all have our own inner turmoil; our minds conflict with our heart constantly. You're no different, Shanalotte. Accept yourself so we can reunite you with Finn and Dagda._

"You're... you're not going to do that, are you? You're just whispering what I want to hear." A visible sweat formed on their brow.

_There's only one way to find out for sure. Do you really wish to live out the rest of your immortal existence without knowing where they are?_

"I... I miss them so much. I don't even remember what they look like anymore." Charlie's memory grew hazier. Their past and everything up until now was covered in a thick haze, much like it had been at the very start. And yet, it had never been more clear. Finn and Dagda _missed them_. This was what they wanted, wasn't it? To return to normalcy after so long? Why else were they fighting so long?

Nortia knew where to find them. Nortia knew everything.

And why would anyone question Nortia? 

"Rise, Charlie." Nortia held out her hand and motioned upward. 

Charlie obeyed, standing upright and perfectly still.

Nortia wrapped her arms behind her back and approached. "My, my. Aren't you just a freak of nature? Gnarled, mangled, warped, deformed. But underneath all of that, I see promise in you. You may have once been a curse upon this world, but now you belong to me. What do you say?" Nortia inspected Charlie's person closely, eyeing them up and down. 

"It is an honor," they said. "I hope you can give my life a use."

"Oh, I have no doubts you'll be _most_ helpful. I have some beginning tasks for you, Charlie. Simple things to handle before we begin. Give me the evidence you have against me." Nortia held out her hand expectingly.

Charlie produced the folder stolen from Calum and handed it over willingly. 

"Excellent. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Nortia turned around and walked towards her desk. Reaching inside a drawer, she pulled out a small matchbox and candles. "Thank you, Charlie. With this pesky folder out of the way, I should have nothing left to fear. Oh, bring me my garbage bin. I need somewhere to put this once I'm done."

Charlie quietly grabbed the small bin near the wall and dragged it over to Nortia's foot. Once done, they stepped away and waited patiently for Nortia's next command.

Nortia threw the folder into the bin and struck a candle against the matchbox. She watched the flame burn briefly and smiled. "I would call this ironic, wouldn't you? The Light of Truth, burning away evidence." Nortia tossed the lit match into the bin and watched a small flame roar to life. The folder burned slowly but surely, leaving only a blackened pile of illegible ash. 

"What's next, Nortia?" Charlie asked diligently.

Nortia glanced down at the floor and noticed Charlie's discarded pistol. "You came here with friends, yes? Dispose of them for me. I can't have any troublemakers running around. From now on, your purpose is to hunt down any and all dissenters and execute them. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am. Right away, ma'am." Charlie bent down and picked up their pistol before holstering it. 

"Well?" Nortia shooed them away. "Get on with it."

Charlie nodded and turned around robotically. As they approached the door leading into the hallway, a brief flash of light washed over their gaze. It was only a moment, but it made Charlie feel... uneasy. Something felt _off_. Something that made them feel like they didn't want to do this.

Thankfully, it was only a lapse in judgment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A mystery of blood and bone  
> Soul-less, origin unknown  
> Twisted devil villains lost in time  
> Mindless born of bubbling ooze  
> Intelligence I will infuse  
> A curse upon the world but now you're mine


	45. Uncomfortable Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, the past can't stay buried.

As soon as Charlie exited the room, Calina and Elric turned their attention towards a particularly cocky Calum. There was something _off_ about the way she moved, the way she spoke. They had both gotten a chance to listen to her monologue in her office just a day or so ago, so why did she come off as... _strange_? Well, stranger than normal. She was never particularly normal, but...

Calum folded her hands in front of her body, letting them rest at hip-level. Her eyes looked glossy, almost like she had been focusing just behind Elric and Calina, rather than on them. Or, perhaps, she was focusing on herself? It was difficult to tell. The expression she wore felt a little bit like confidence she didn't normally have. Even with Lacrimosa at her side, she was never quite like this. 

"So, who goes first? I don't mind playing second fiddle," Calum said.

"What's the plan?" Calina whispered to Elric.

"I don't know... How are we supposed to fight someone with absolute precognition?" he asked. 

Calum rolled back her sleeve to stare at an imaginary watch, sighing quietly. 

"Fuck it," Calina said as she unsheathed one of her blades. "You made my life hell, Calum. I could've had a normal life--hell, I could have _been_ normal. But you just couldn't get your stupid gods out of your head, could you?"

"Don't tell me you're an atheist," Calum nearly gasped. 

"Almost. Not only do I not believe in them, but I'll kill 'em myself." 

Running a hand through her hair, Calum giggled with a sly grin. Her laugh was almost childlike. "Oh, don't say that. You'll go to hell if you do." 

"I was never that religious," Elric said, "but after seeing what I've seen, maybe hell _is_ real, personified by yourself and Nortia." 

Calina had enough talking. She charged forward at Calum with her blades primed and ready to kill. Holding each one in her hands, she folded her wrists against her chest, forming a criss-cross pattern with her blades pointing outward. Once she was within range, she stopped short and swung both blades forward, slicing in both directions simultaneously at Calum's neck. 

Calum, having seen this coming, dodged backward. All she needed was one step back and she was completely safe. "Calina, my dear, you're just as naive as Lacrimosa was. Perhaps even more so." She grabbed one of Calina's blades with her hand, yanking her closer. Calina was dragged forward, only to be kicked back onto the floor. 

Landing on her ass, Calina slid back on the wooden floor, her blades clinking to the ground next to her. One of them dug into the floor, lodging itself in place, while the other slid away from her grasp. "Nngh, fuck you!" she shouted, helping herself back onto her feet. She reached down and grabbed the blade embedded in the floor, pulling it out with both hands.

"What about you, Elric?" Calum pointed at him. "Do you want to try and kill a _god_?"

"I'm not going to kill you. I'm-- _we're_ \--going to destroy your legacy," Elric declared.

"Oh? What do you gain by stopping us now? We're already ascended beings. The bloodshed is over. Trying to stop us now would mean everyone who died did so in vain. So, please, as a rational person, don't try to stop us," Calum said.

Calina swung her blade wildly forward, missing every single slice at Calum's throat and chest. It was clear her blows were filled with murderous intent, but Calum didn't seem to care at all. "You're gonna pay, you fucking bitch!" 

"Pay for what? Trying to make your life better?" she teased. "You've suffered greatly, I can tell." She grabbed Calina by the wrist and squeezed, causing her to drop the blade to the floor once again. With both hands, Calum traced Calina's palms slowly. "I can feel it in your skin. The hardship, the despair, the loneliness--I feel it, Calina. You suffered so much and have nothing to show for it; nothing except for a broken heart. This is why we have gods and religion, you see. We can make it better. There are still miracles in this cold, harsh world, you just have to find them."

Calina glared at Calum, but her anger nearly faded away when she saw the genuine look of empathy in her eyes. Not once has anyone looked at Calina with such sympathy, such _pain_ , as if Calum knew _exactly_ what she had been through. Her chest felt warm, a feeling that she still wasn't quite used to, yet. A tear streamed down her cheek as she saw her own agony reflected back at her, reliving the worst moments in her mind. 

Being orphaned as a toddler. Getting adopted by a strange man. Going on dangerous thieving missions. Running away with her two swords and the clothes on her back--never looking back. Cooking awful food in a cramped tent, it was all too real for her again. She almost wanted to break down right then and there. 

But then she remembered a distant voice. A gentle and soothing voice, made of silk and reeked of gunpowder. It was Yori's voice, empathizing with her struggles. When Elric didn't believe in her, Yori did. When Charlie didn't give a shit, Yori did. When nobody took her seriously...

Yori was the first. 

Calina shoved Calum away from herself and picked up her sword with a newfound resolve. "You can take your 'religion' and shove it. I've got my own goddess in my life, and I don't need anything else." She turned around and grabbed her second blade from the floor behind her. 

Calum shook her head in disapproval. "You... you've made up your mind, have you?" 

"Yeah, I have. You know who else already made up their mind?" Calina asked, glancing back at Calum. 

Calum asked, "Who?"

While Calum held Calina close and stared into her soul, Elric had taken the opportunity to sneak up behind Calum. Using the objects in the room to stay just out-of-sight, Elric had managed to approach her from behind with his oar readied in both hands. He took extra care not to creak the floorboards as he approached, wanting to make sure he got the drop on Calum. His hypothesis was that if Calina could distract Calum long enough, he should be able to sneak up on her, even with her precognition.

"Oh, you meant _him_?" Calum answered her own question. She didn't even have to turn around to know what he was planning.

Elric decided to attack anyway. Using his oar, he hooked it beneath Calum's armpits and yanked upwards, catching her arms and locking them in place. The roughened wood dug into her coat's sleeves and into her tie. Splinters were the least of her worries now, however. 

Calina capitalized on the opportunity and charged forward. With her blades, she lunged at Calum, only for her to kick Calina away effortlessly. Then, she slammed her head back into Elric's nose and wrestled the oar from his hands. Once she was freed, she turned around and smacked him upside the head with his own oar. It shattered in half from the impact--one half flying away and hitting the wall while the other remained in her hand. 

Elric's body collapsed to the floor, but he was still conscious. His ears rung louder than they ever had before, but his vision had yet to fade. Perhaps the numerous blows to the head over the last few weeks have toughened his skull? Not wanting to stay out of the fight, he staggered to his feet slowly and stood up straight. 

Calum grabbed Elric's weakened body and threw him away with little resistance. His body had landed just on top of Calina's, crushing her under his weight too. The first thing Elric felt was a dull pain as he fell on top of Calina, then a slightly sharper pain digging into his lower back. As he reached down towards the sharp pain, he felt a blade lodged inside of his back. Surprisingly, he barely felt the pain. 

He staggered to his feet once more, Calina's blade sticking out of his back the entire time. Miraculously, only part of the tip pierced his body and didn't fully impale him. Under normal circumstances, he would leave the foreign object inside and seek immediate medical attention. But now...

He pulled the blade out of his back, blood gushing out from the open wound. "That... hurt quite a lot less than I thought it would." 

Calina rushed to Elric's side and took her blade back, a look of horror washed over her face. "Holy shit, dude. Are you gonna be alright?" She bent down and stared at his wound.

"I'm fine," he said, grabbing his back with one hand. "I'll deal with that later. I'm not going to let... this... stop me now. My parents didn't die for me to give up here."

"Your parents...?" Calum asked. 

"Don't tell me you didn't know," Elric's breaths grew heavier. "Nortia killed them. They were revolutionaries, sacrificial lambs. I've spent my whole life wanting to know what happened to them, but now that I do..."

Calum was quiet.

"...I want to kill Nortia." 

"Elric..." Calum reached her hand out but quickly retracted it. It looked as though she had tried to do it again, only to resist the urge. Did she look... pained? "Let me... help..."

Elric and Calina shared a confused glance with each other. 

Calum's eyes welled up as she began to bawl uncontrollably. Her hands uselessly wiped away seemingly endless streams of tears. With every other breath, she attempted to compose herself, only to succumb to her violent outburst. Her sobs were gross and unsightly, much like a newborn baby's would be. "Just let me help him! He deserves salvation, too!" she cried out, seemingly to nobody. 

And just as quickly as it had begun, it ceased. Calum's breaths were rapid and shallow, and she glanced at both Elric and Calina. "Kill me. Do it, please--before she comes back. This isn't what I wanted at all, you have to understand! Please, do it! I can't... do it myself. She won't... She won't let me."

"I've been trying!" Calina shouted. 

Calum grabbed at her hair with both hands and began pulling chunks of it out. Bald patches riddled her once pristine haircut as loose strands fell to the ground. A maniacal, unusual sounding cackle erupted from her throat in a voice that was most certainly not her own. It all sounded too familiar to Elric, but Calina had no idea who was speaking through Calum.

"Come now," Nortia's voice spoke through Calum's. Their voices had intertwined in a synchronized dissonance. "This is what you wanted, isn't it, Calum? Apotheosis? Grandeur? You'd throw it all away now to some _nonbelievers_?" 

"What the..." Elric's mouth was agape. He was far too horrified to move at all. 

In her struggle, Calum began stomping around the room, her feet banging into desks and shelves, knocking everything over in the process. Some of the floorboards had come loose in the process, nearly tripping her over in the process. "This isn't..." Calum's voice outspoke Nortia's, "what I wanted. I wanted peace, not... not..."

Nortia's voice regained control. "Kill them. Now."

And with a simple command, Calum was back under Nortia's influence. Her struggles had ceased and a calm, eerie peace had washed over her entire body. She stood perfectly still--her breaths almost imperceptible. "My apologies," Calum's voice had returned. "I must have lost my composure. You know how it is, ascending to a higher state of being. It takes a lot out of you!" Calum waved her hand in dismissal as if nothing ever happened. 

Elric looked at Calina. "What do we do now?"

"You're asking _me_? I'm the dumbass, you're the tactician. What am I supposed to do, make her trip on one of those floorboards or something?" Calina shrugged. Then something caught her eye, something she hadn't quite noticed until now. In the confusion, they had been stomping and roaming around on top of wooden floorboards. The impacts from some blows must have made some come loose, unearthing, well, the earth below. "There's open ground here... Hey! What if you stomped on one of those loosened floorboards? Maybe you oughta pry one away and launch a disc through the floor?" 

"But wouldn't she see that coming?" Elric asked.

"Well, uh, she kinda lost control when you talked to her, right? You must've hit her sensitive spot, so maybe if we just do that again, we'll get a shot!" Calina said.

Elric glanced at the loosened floorboards between them and Calum. It was a long shot and relied on Calum's dangerously empathetic personality, but it was their only shot. Now that they knew Calum would kill them if given the chance, there wasn't much else they _could_ do. "Alright. I need to pry the boards loose. Can you tell her about your childhood? That might get her going."

Calina nodded. "Way ahead of you. One tragic backstory, coming up!"

Calum walked forward slowly. "Come, now. I promise it won't hurt. I can make it nice and quick--an honorable death, even."

"That would've been nicer than what you and Lacrimosa did to me. Instead, you put me through hell just because I would've been an _inconvenient truth_. If you weren't so gods-damn selfish, you would've taken me in and found me a new home. Instead, you shoved a literal toddler into a ragtag bunch of misfits and called it a day!" Calina shouted.

Calum stopped dead in her tracks. "It wasn't so bad, was it? You seem just fine to me."

Elric began to tiptoe away, sneaking out of Calum's peripheral vision and making towards the loosened floorboard just behind her. 

"I spent every night wishing for a normal family. My dad? Apparently he up and left when I was born, didn't feel like raising a kid or something." Calina paused, sniffling a little. "Just me and mom for a while, until Lacrimosa decided he needed a fuckin' necklace more than he needed to, I don't know, respect life? You were employing a criminal from the start and you knew it!" 

"We needed to secure the gemstones at all costs. You wouldn't understand--sacrifices have to be made for the greater good!" Calum retorted. 

"You can't fucking speak to me about sacrifices! You've lived your whole life in comfort and ease! You don't know what it means to suffer, do you?! The worst thing you've ever had to deal with is dusting your bookshelf. When have you ever cried yourself to sleep because you know you're going to die alone? Unknown? Afraid? I was scared for my life in the Thieves' Guild, you know. Lacrimosa made us run some incredibly fucked-up missions, all for some shitty rocks. I've almost died more times than I can count, and... and I just wanted out."

Calum clutched her chest, her fingers wrapping tightly around her jacket. "It wasn't... the Guild wasn't that bad to you. You're just..."

"I took the swords and ran as fast as I could. They made me feel safe for the first time in my life. I've stolen so many weapons and so much armor, but you know what? Those swords were my first friends I've ever had. It must have been the gemstones, you know? Maybe the gods took pity on me and hid me away, letting me live in peace for the first time. You know?" Calina said.

"The gods themselves smiled upon you..." Calum began to well up. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea the work I was involved with was so..."

Elric was in position. Standing only a few feet behind Calum, he had managed to pry away enough of the flooring to reveal bare earth below. All he needed to do was stomp once and send Calum flying. After that...

Calum let out an ear-piercing shriek. Her hands covered her ears as she screamed even louder still as if her life depended on it. In a way, it almost did. "Get! Out! Of! My! Heeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" she yelled. 

"Now!" Calina shouted, readying her blades in her hands. 

Elric didn't need to be told twice. He stomped on the ground as hard as he could, causing a quiet reverberation in the earth below. It ruminated until two large, earthen pillars shot out from beneath Calum. Each of them pushed Calum's feet upward, launching her into the air. 

She didn't flail or scream at all when it happened. Her body calmly flew higher and higher until her head smacked against the ceiling. The impact was enough to daze her, but her descent had only just begun. Her body slowly fell down to the floor until her back collided with the ground where the pillars had just been. As she landed, she smacked the back of her head against the floor--the impact causing her head to smash through the floorboard. 

Her body went limp almost immediately. Elric crouched down next to her body and pressed two fingers up to her neck to check for a pulse. 

Ba dum. Ba dum. Ba dum. A regular heartbeat, indicating she was still very much alive. 

"She's passed out, judging from the impact, she may have a concussion," Elric concluded.

Calina walked forward until she knelt down opposite of Elric, staring down at Calum's unconscious body. "I'm going to end this. It's what I--we--want."

"I understand she asked for this, but... Forgive me, I cannot watch." Elric's fingers slowly trailed away from Calum's body as he stood up. "Please make it quick. The sooner we're done, the sooner we can help Charlie."

"Okay..." Calina grabbed one of her swords with both hands and inverted it, pointing the blade directly at Calum's chest. This was it, she thought. Revenge. Did it make her satisfied? Not as much as she'd have thought. But it needed to be done. 

Before she could take the plunge, Calum's hand grasped Calina's wrist. Her eyes were still closed, and yet she somehow knew where Calina's hands were. 

"Do it..." she muttered. "I deserve it. Quickly, before she takes control again."

Calina's breath hitched. "I know you deserve it, but... it won't fix what you've done. You should've atoned."

"It's all I have left to offer. Please. I already know the gods will not take pity on me once I pass. They will surely smile upon you, Calina. They will forgive you."

The room was deadly silent for a moment. So many thoughts ran through Calina's head that it became difficult to process. Her palms grew sweatier by the second as the realization that Calum's life dangled in her grasp. 

Before she could make her decision, the door opened and a familiar figure entered far sooner than either Elric or Calina had anticipated. Charlie quietly closed the door behind themself and glanced at either of them and then Calum. "You're still here?" 

Elric turned toward Charlie. "What happened with Nortia? Did you kill her?"

Charlie reached behind their body and unsheathed a knife, all while obscuring it from Elric's sight. "Actually, something even better happened..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkDMz2ml0gw


	46. End of Thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we come a little bit closer.

Yori and Annma sat together on the roof in an extended period of silence. The gunfire had ceased, but their ears still rang. Not even the howling wind could reach them now; Yori wasn't sure if she preferred the wind or the tinnitus.

The two had made their way to the rooftop Nunki and her spotter had been operating from. It was a quaint building, not unlike the abandoned factory across from it. It was clearly some sort of warehouse that had been hollowed out and left to rot--likely related to the factory nearby. It seemed like an ideal place to snipe from with its plentiful cover, sightlines of every building in a kilometer radius, and ease-of-access.

As they sat on the roof, Reblan sat quietly away from Annma and Yori. He had been nursing the bullet in his thigh as best he could, but without any proper medical training or equipment, all he could really do is tie the wound tightly with a torn shirt sleeve. 

"I really killed her," she exhaled gently. "I didn't think I had it in me, but... I know it was the right thing to do."

Annma rested her hand on Yori's shoulder. "It was. We needed to let the others get away. Who knows how they're doing now?"

As Annma spoke, a soft thumping approached them from behind in a staggered staccato. It was Reblan, grabbing his thigh with both hands as he limped towards them. "Thanks for dealing with her, but I don't suppose you could help me out?"

Yori glanced past Annma with a tired look on her face. "Annma, do you have any of Elric's bandages?"

Annma shook her head. "No, but I can take him to a hospital. Is that okay?"

Reblan gulped. "Sorry, I'm just... I'm a little nervous," he turned towards Yori. "You're kind of scary, up close."

Glancing past him, Yori noticed that Nunki's rifle was slung around his back. She could tell it was hers by the carved tick marks on the stock and the muck staining the barrel. It was a shame, too, it was a really nice rifle before Nunki got her hands on it. It always bothered her how Nunki insisted on the highest quality equipment yet abused it so much. 

That was just like Nunki, Yori thought: treating everything and everyone like tools. People weren't meant to be used and discarded. Maybe Nunki had some deep-seated inferiority complex? Maybe she blamed herself for always being second fiddle to Yori's sniping performance. It would explain her open hostility. But then again, maybe it wouldn't.

Yori was no stranger to feeling inferior to her peers. She knew how Nunki felt, deep down. If only things could have ended up differently; maybe the two could have been friends. It was an unfortunate idea to realize moments after killing Nunki, but...

"Oh, you want this rifle? It's yours." Reblan slowly reached for the sniper rifle and held it out in his palms. "Go on, take it. You deserve it more than she does."

"Huh..." Yori stood up and approached cautiously, inspecting the rifle closer. It may have been unkempt, but it was nothing a little tender, love, and care couldn't fix. It was a real beauty underneath the dust and grime. Without hesitation, she snatched the rifle from Reblan's hands and pulled out the magazine, revealing it to be almost empty. "Two shots left..." She pulled the hammer back and saw a third bullet had been chambered already. "Three total."

"In any case, I kinda wanna... go home." Reblan scratched the back of his head nervously. 

Yori glanced up at him. "Where's that?" 

"You're not gonna turn me in, are you?" Reblan asked.

"What are you, a thief or something?"

Reblan's breath hitched for a moment. "Actually, yes. I'm part of this Guild, you see..."

"With Calina and Lacrimosa? Espio, Emada, and..." Yori paused. "Zeva."

"Sounds like you know about 'em, then," he half chuckled, remembering them fondly. "Any of them nearby? What about Charlie?" 

Yori knew she had to break the news to him. After all, if she didn't, who would? "The Guild doesn't really... exist, anymore. Lacrimosa and Zeva are dead, and the others are probably scattered between Sabine and Catol. You can probably find Emada and Espio around somewhere, but don't bother looking for the others."

Reblan stared down at his feet. "Oh," was all he could muster. "I should've known. Guess that's how it all goes, huh? Well, I guess this is a fresh start for me. It's been a while since I've seen the outside world, so maybe I can just make a new name for myself. If you see any of them, tell them I'll be looking for them, okay? Oh, and tell Charlie 'thank you'. They helped me out a lot..."

"Of course..." Yori said, half-heartedly. 

"Well, thanks again. Goodbye," he waved. Spinning around, Reblan began to descend the ladder slowly. 

"Wait," Yori called out.

Reblan stopped and poked his head above the top of the ladder. "Huh?"

"How did Nunki know where we were, even when we hid behind walls? Was that your doing?" she asked.

He climbed back up and sighed. "Yeah, it was. I've got infrared vision--I can see vague shapes through walls. Was really useful back in the guild, but it doesn't get much use any--"

Yori grabbed his shoulder and pointed towards the military base, a relatively small dot on the horizon. "Can you tell me where Nortia is right now? Is it too far away?" 

"It's about a kilometer away. I can already barely tell who's who behind walls--at that distance, it'd be like telling ants apart." 

"Use this," Yori said as she slid the scope off of her new rifle and handed it to him.

Reblan took the scope and held it up to his eye much like a monocular. He turned around and faced the military base so he could focus intensely. "Hmm, I see..." he adjusted the zoom on the scope, "...a few people towards the back entrance. Three in one room, two in another. The rest are in another building, but they're not too far away. I can see a window in the room with the two people in it. It looks like they're talking. Wait, hold on... I see a small fire."

"A fire?" Yori asked.

"Fires generate heat, and I can see a little one next to one figure. What are they burning?" 

"They shouldn't be burning anything..." Yori muttered before snatching the scope away. "Thank you, Reblan. You can go."

"Alright. Glad I could be on the good side for once, I suppose. Goodbye," he said before disappearing down the ladder.

Annma glanced over at the military base, then back to Yori. "Are you going to try and snipe Nortia from here?"

"...If it comes to that, yes." Yori admitted. "I should be fine from here. Can you go and take care of Reblan?"

"Are you sure?" Annma's ears visibly drooped. "I mean, what if you need help?"

"I'll be fine. Nortia can't reach me from here, now can she? Besides, I'm not as helpless as you think I am." 

Who was Annma to argue that? This entire time, Yori had been the one to lead the charge. She was the strategic shot-caller here, not her. Maybe Yori should've been promoted higher than corporal? At least, that's what she thought. "Alright. I'll go see if I can help out. Any other orders, ma'am?" she joked.

"Don't die," Yori said sternly. 

"Okay." The levity drained from her face as she spoke. With a quick salute, Annma slid down the ladder and caught up with Reblan, wrapping his arm around his shoulder. Together, the two of them hobbled away from Yori, leaving her behind.

It had been a while since Yori was left alone completely. Ever since basic training, she had always been around _someone_ , even if it was Nunki. The last time she was alone, it was in the hospital while Elric and Calina went into surgery. Back then, her thoughts haunted her. But now things were quiet. All she heard was the gentle breeze blowing all around her.

There were more appropriate times and places for reminiscence. With a quick cocking of her rifle, Yori crouched down in a comfortable spot with sightlines toward the military base. She leaned into her scope and closed one eye, staring downrange. Her breathing swayed the scope gently in predictable and deliberate patterns. 

Soon she found herself fixated on the room Reblan had mentioned--the one with the small fire. There was a window on the front side of the base, allowing Yori just a small hint of what was going on inside. The lights were on and the small crackling of a fire was just barely visible. If Nortia really were in this room, it would be incredibly difficult to land any sort of shot. The window looked to be about one meter tall and wide and about chest level at best. This left Yori mere centimeters to land a headshot. Of course, this isn't even considering the fact that the base was still one kilometer away. Her shot would have to be perfect to be lethal. 

Yori went prone and slowed her breathing, trying to steady her scope further. Lying on her stomach gave her barely any more vision inside the office, but at this point, it was better than nothing at all. She waited patiently for the figures inside to reveal themselves to her until eventually, one did. 

She could see Charlie walking away with a somewhat blank stare on their face. While that wasn't particularly unusual for them, there was something off about how they moved. Charlie's arms swung side to side in near-perfect rhythms, like a soldier's march. Yori recalled how Charlie was never formally trained, so how would they know how to march so well? 

The second figure in the room soon appeared through the window. Nortia smiled with her hands folded behind her back and watched Charlie walk away. 

"What the..." Yori muttered. "Charlie? What happened to you?" 

Nortia's smile soon faded into a stern glare. Then, slowly but surely, she turned towards the window and looked outside. Yori gulped as she watched Nortia open the window, praying that she couldn't see her. But Nortia saw everything. Nortia always saw everything. Nothing could escape her, not forever. 

A chill went down Yori's spine as she realized Nortia was staring right at her. Her cold, heartless eyes burned away at her focus. Her palms grew sweaty as her hands began to shake from trepidation. And that was the last thing Yori remembered feeling before closing her eyes. 

-

"Did you kill Nortia or not?" Elric repeated his question. "Surely you'd have a trophy, right? What about the broadcast of Calum's dossier?"

Charlie walked closer, the knife behind their back gripped tightly. "Oh, it's going to start soon. I had something funny to show you first, though..."

Calina mostly ignored Charlie as they stared down at Calum. Deciding whether or not to kill her was admittedly a much more difficult choice than she'd have thought. Something caught her eye before she could make up her mind, however. A distinctive, sharp ray of light hit her eyes, drawing her attention towards Charlie. They had approached Elric just enough for her to see their back.

But by the time she realized what was going on, it was too late. "Elric!" she cried anyway.

Charlie had whipped forward faster than Elric could anticipate. The knife was little more than a silvery blur before embedding itself in Elric's stomach. Leaning in uncomfortably close, Charlie whispered into his ear, "Your parents died just like this. Unceremonious. Ugly. And, most of all, painfully."

Elric wheezed and grunted as he gripped Charlie by the shoulders. His fingers dug into their uniform as a weak respite. Baring his teeth, he stared deep into Charlie's eyes, only to find a black void staring back. "What... happened to you...?" 

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know?" they said, kicking Elric back. Crimson stained Charlie's knife as the excess dripped down to the floorboards below, staining those, too. They stood completely still and watched Elric scramble on the ground, pressing his hand to his wound to stem the bleeding. 

"Elric!" Calina's grip tightened around her sword. Knowing she had to help, she attempted to end Calum's life right here and now, but...

Calum grasped Calina's blade and wrestled it out of her grip. Once freed, Calum kicked Calina off of her and stood up. "Thank you, Charlie. This sinner almost had me." 

"Don't let it happen again," they said.

Elric and Calina shared concerned looks. They both knew the odds were immensely stacked against them now, and the only way out will likely be through bloodshed. 

"So... if we surrender, will Nortia go easy on us?" Calina joked.

"Not even a little," Charlie said. "It'd be easier if you just let us kill you, instead. She has some dastardly plans for you especially, Elric."

As they spoke, Calum circled around Calina, drawing her attention away from Charlie. Calina backed up against Elric as much as she could, realizing they were now stuck between two mind-controlled loyalists to Nortia. If they were going to die, they'd at least go down swinging, Calina thought.

Soon, Calum and Charlie began to close the distance. Every step they took felt louder than Elric's and Calina's heartbeats pounding out of their chests. Armed with only a single sword and a boat's oar against a sword-wielding prophet and an undying assassin, things were certainly not looking good for either of them. But what they lacked in raw power, they had other ways of closing the gap.

Charlie stepped on a creaky floorboard, which gave Elric an idea. Seeing the wood beneath them groan and creak under pressure made him realize just how much weaker the floor has become thanks to their little stunt with Calum. Thinking quickly, he stomped down onto the floorboard. The sound of wood snapping was his cue to stomp once more, having just enough room for his foot to dig into the dirt beneath him.

However, Charlie was far too familiar with his affinity to let him get away with it. They dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding an earthen pillar in the process. With a quick slice, Charlie lunged at Elric's chest, but he deflected their blow with the thick end of the oar. The knife's blade was dulled against the wood, but even a dull blade could still be plenty lethal. 

All the while, Calum darted towards Calina and swung her sword wildly. Obviously not trained in close range combat, Calum struggled to land any kind of blow onto Calina. Not even her precognition could help her learn how to swing a sword more efficiently. Calina deflected all of her blows efficiently, given the circumstances.

"You really oughta learn how to handle one of these," Calina joked as her blade collided against Calum's. "Guess you're just lacking in that upper body strength, eh? Maybe eat some more protein and a little less shit from Nortia?"

"I don't need to be a master swordswoman to know how to fight," Calum bared her teeth. "Nortia taught me everything I need to know."

Calina parried Calum's next blow and kicked her back, creating some space between them. "Did she teach you to suck this loud? If so, I don't know what I'm even worried about! I had more difficulty making an old-fashioned than trying to fight _you_ off!"

"You don't even know what the most basic cocktail is! How could you _possibly_ know more than Nortia about _anything_!" Calum cried as she swung once more. 

Calina dodged to the left, but Calum's blade narrowly scraped her side. A red trail lined the side of her stomach as blood dripped slowly onto her belt. "You'd be surprised what I know. I may be a dumbass, but I'm not so much of a dumbass that I'll believe in pieces of shit like you or Snoretia."

"You take that back, you... you miscreant!"

-

Yori reopened her eyes to a bright light. Once she had a chance to adjust, she realized she had been sitting down in a room that looked somewhat familiar to her. It was Nortia's office. The medals, the cane against the wall, the books, the paintings, it all screamed 'Nortia'. After a moment, Yori realized Nortia had been sitting right across from her at her desk. 

"Corporal Bellevoir. It's been quite some time since we last spoke, hasn't it?" Nortia's words were soft and welcoming. She leaned forward and rested her chin in her hands, her elbows digging into the desk below. "How have you been?"

Yori blinked slowly. "How did I get here...?" 

"You've always been here," Nortia said. "This is where all of my brightest soldiers reside--close to me. Ever since we first met all those months ago, I had a spot for you right here. How could you forget?" 

"I... I don't know..." she looked away in shame. 

"Oh, try not to let it bother you too much, corporal. I know how sensitive you are. It's quite alright, really. It's not your fault that life has been so unkind to you." Nortia leaned forward and cupped Yori's cheek in her hand. "You've grown so much, Yori. I'm so proud of you." 

Yori's breath hitched for a moment. Did Nortia really just call her by her first name? It felt so... intimate. So unlike a general. For the first time since Yori could remember, her heart felt warm and full. "Thank you, General Nortia. Coming from you, that means a lot." 

Nortia pulled her hand back and smiled. "I'm glad it does--it shows you hold me in such high regard. You see, these are the keys to any successful relationship: trust and communication. The relationship between two lovers, siblings, parents and children, even soldiers and their commanding officers, they all demand trust and communication. I want you to know that you're valuable to me."

Yori sniffled a little bit. She leaned her head back in her chair and stared at the ceiling, trying her best to contain her emotions. The last thing she wanted to do was look like a sniveling crybaby in front of the most important person she could think of. "Do you say this to all of your soldiers?"

"Only the ones who deserve it," Nortia said. "You're the most deserving of praise among all of my beloved soldiers. Not everyone can be as talented, hard-working, dedicated, or even as bright as you are. And yet, you somehow don't seem to think the same. Why not?" she asked.

Yori mustered up her strength before she spoke. "I've never really felt like I had worth. Growing up, I kept seeing all of my friends and family with their wonderful affinities. I wondered if I was somehow... defective. Like, was I born wrong? Did I do something wrong and because of it, I'd never get an affinity?"

"Ah, I see." Nortia fiddled with her hands. "Your affinity anxiety made you feel like you're no better than your peers. I am no psychologist, but I would say your inferiority complex is inconveniencing you in your daily life." 

"Yeah..." Yori looked down at her feet. "I would be fine if I had an affinity that was pretty lame. As long as I had _something_ , like Elric's--"

"Don't speak his name to me again." Nortia's voice grew stern. "Forget about him at once."

Before Yori could even think twice, Elric's name had faded away from her memory. His name, his face, his penchant for capes even when they were highly unfashionable, it all vanished from her mind at Nortia's command. It wasn't long until she forgot who he was at all. Worse yet, she didn't even realize he was wiped from her memory. For all intents and purposes, he never existed.

"Sorry, general."

-

Charlie grabbed the knife with both hands and attempted to thrust it into Elric's chest, but his oar deflected the blow. 

"Charlie, please snap out of it! This isn't you! You know you don't want to do this! I know you're still in there because Nortia's control isn't perfect," Elric pleaded. Blood trickled down his stomach and stained his tasset and shorts. 

"Shut up," they said, knocking the oar out of the way. 

"This isn't what Patch would've wanted!" 

"What do _you_ know what anyone wants from me? Nobody but Nortia knows me at all! She told me about my _parents_. I've missed them so much, Elric." 

"She's lying to you!" Straining made him cough up some blood into his hand. It was an ugly sight, but one he'd have to handle later. Adrenaline had long since taken over.

"No, she's not! I know she wouldn't lie to me. She's done more for me than you ever could--why _wouldn't_ I trust her?!" Charlie kicked the oar out of Elric's hands and watched it go flying. Capitalizing on the opportunity, they tackled Elric to the ground and pinned him down. 

"I've lost parents too, Charlie! I know what it's like to be abandoned and lost. That loneliness, that suffering... I know it all too well." Elric grabbed both of their wrists, keeping them from plunging the knife into his chest. 

"Your parents deserved to die. They didn't know their place in the world--though I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, now does it?" Charlie bit one of Elric's fingers, causing his grip to falter.

However, Elric had other plans in mind. He kicked Charlie back and crawled away as fast as he could, picking up the oar as he rose. "Are you saying they should've done nothing at all? That we should've just taken these injustices and accepted it as part of the world?"

"I'm saying they should've known what could've happened. If it weren't for your stupid parents, I wouldn't have gotten into this situation at all, you know." Charlie staggered to their feet.

"They never wanted this to happen to you. If they were still here, they would..."

"Shut up! Had Nortia known you were still around, she would've been a bit more thorough."

Elric glanced down quickly at the two rings on his finger. It would've been all too easy to lose his temper now, but he knew his parents would've kept their cool. That's what they'd want from him now. "I really don't want to fight you, Charlie, but I'll do what I have to. I know it's what you really want, deep down," he said, grabbing at his stomach. 

All while Elric and Charlie fought, Calina and Calum parried and deflected blows in a perpetual stalemate. Raw skill versus absolute precognition. Calum thought it would be a walk in the park, but she severely underestimated Calina's prowess in armed combat. She should've known, considering she learned from her own right-hand man. 

"What's the matter?" Calina asked as her blade clanged against Calum's. "Affinity not doing you so good now?"

"I know everything you're about to say before your pea-sized brain even considers the possibility, but when you say it out loud, it still manages to irritate me," Calum grunted. 

"My brain may be tiny, but these guns sure ain't." 

Calum swung once more at Calina, but she deflected the blow with surprising accuracy. Even though Calum knew full-well that her swings were easy to read and would definitely be parried, it still enraged her. There was something just so _frustrating_ about fighting someone who was obviously lesser than she was, but nothing she did would work. 

However, something struck Calum. Her head suddenly cleared of all malice as she apparently dropped her sword to the ground in an act of submission. "You're absolutely right. I don't know why I bothered trying to best you, Calina." She clapped her hands together slowly. "I never stood a chance, to be honest."

Calina hesitated to move any closer to Calum. What was she planning? "I don't know. This seems a little suspicious..." 

"Nonsense. I wouldn't dare trick you, now would I? That would be suicide--and I'm not about to throw away my life so easily, now am I?" she said, stepping back from the grounded sword with her hands up. "Take it," she tapped the blade with her foot. 

Calina eyed the sword, then Calum. Lowering her guard, she sheathed her only blade on her back and approached Calum slowly.

-

"It's quite alright. Now, where were we?"

"I was talking about how I wish I had an affinity, no matter what," she said.

Nortia nodded. "Ah, right. Yori, let me be frank: the gods clearly have plans far more important for you than simply giving you an affinity. You could see it as some sort of challenge rather than a handicap, don't you think?"

"I'm not sure I understand..." Yori grabbed her elbow with her other hand.

"Life is all about overcoming your struggles. My duty as a general is to help my soldiers overcome their individual struggles so that we may overcome our greatest struggle as a society," Nortia explained.

"That means a lot, general. I feel like when I'm around you, I feel a bit more at ease with who I am. I feel more comfortable with myself, more than I ever did alone," Yori gave a weak smile. 

Nortia slid her seat back and opened a drawer in her desk. In it, she pulled out a light blue badge before laying it down in front of Yori. "I think this is as good a time as any to promote you."

Yori's eyes fixated on the badge. For a moment, she lost focus of Nortia's words. Instead, she had been reminded of someone else, someone that seemed important to her. She was lost in the calming blue of the badge until Nortia snapped her fingers and drew her attention back.

"I think Master Sergeant Bellevoir suits you nicely, don't you agree?" Nortia asked. "You outrank even my specialists. In fact, I could give you two of your own to act as retainers, if you want to think of it like that. You would be training recruits on sniping tactics. What do you say?" 

The offer was so sweet and tempting. Nortia was right, Master Sergeant Bellevoir had a wonderful ring to it. What would Calina think about that? "Wait... Calina...?" she asked herself. Who was Calina?

"You're worrying again, Bellevoir. I order you to cease at once," she commanded.

"S-Sorry. I just worry a lot, I think," Yori explained.

"You don't need to worry about anything, not while I'm here. I'll always be here for you," she said.

Once more, the memories of the ones she once knew vanished from her memory. One by one, the people she had met faded away into irrelevance. The blue badge before her beckoned her now more than ever with her thoughts utterly unclouded. Nortia's expecting gaze made her all too eager to grab the badge and hold it up in admiration. 

Before she could accept the promotion, tears welled in Yori's eyes. Soon, the weight of the world crashed down on top of her, allowing a deluge of emotions to flow wildly and freely. She cried harder than she had ever cried before, sobbing grossly into her uniform's sleeve. Drool and mucus stained her once-green outfit with sticky dampness. 

Nortia waited patiently for Yori to finish crying. She had all the time in the world for her greatest soldier to recompose herself, of course.

"I'm sorry..." Yori spoke between sobs. "I just... I've spent so long trying to find my purpose in life. I've been so afraid this whole time, and now it's finally over..."

"There, there..." Nortia ran her hand through Yori's hair. "You have nothing to fear. I'm here. You know, the gods love you, Yori," Nortia said. "I can prove it to you. I'll grant you an affinity all of your own. Would you like that?"

Yori's eyes sparkled through her tears. How could she possibly say no? This was everything she ever wanted, everything she could ever ask for, everything she had prayed for. With one simple affirmation, Yori's problems would be solved once and for all. She would have nothing to be anxious about, nothing to fear, and nothing left to desire. 

But before she could say anything, a single thought ran through her head in a voice that was not her own. 

_"You're plenty strong on your own. You don't need no stinkin' affinity to be as cool as you are."_

The voice sounded so sweet and so sincere. Somehow, it sounded more meaningful to her than anything Nortia had said. It was hard to imagine how that was possible. Nortia's words were sweeter than sugar. 

"Is something the matter, Master Sergeant Bellevoir?" Nortia asked.

"N-no. I'm sorry. I just... became overwhelmed, for a second. You understand, right?" Yori tried to clear her mind and forget what just happened.

"Of course. I understand this can be extremely taxing on your psyche, so I understand," Nortia said. 

The same, familiar voice echoed in Yori's ears again. _"Like fuck you are! You hit all sorts of crazy shots with that rifle of yours!"_

Nortia grew visibly agitated. "What are you doing, Yori? What's with that look in your eyes? Focus on me and me alone." She grabbed Yori by the chin and stared into her eyes. "Remember your anxiety? Your self-loathing? Your inferiority complex? I can _help_ you. No one else can gran you an affinity, Yori. Don't throw away this opportunity." 

A second voice that seemed so distant, yet so close called out to her. _“You need a spotter. Spotters should generally be someone familiar to you, yes?”_

"Are you listening to me, Bellevoir?" Nortia asked sternly.

_"Yori, we need to go. Come on," the second familiar voice called again._

Yori shook her head. Whatever was happening to her made her feel as though something was growing inside her head. The inside of her skull suddenly felt incredibly tight. Was something going to burst out of her? It hurt. It hurt so bad. She clutched her head with both hands and grit her teeth, drowning out Nortia's words with her grunts. 

And then, just as suddenly as the pain had arrived, it vanished. When Yori opened her eyes, she could see Elric and Calina standing behind Nortia with their arms folded. They smiled at Yori.

"We didn't come all this way just for you to listen to what this bitch has to say, right?" Calina asked.

"For once, I agree with Calina. You know me better than anyone else does, Yori. You know how much Nortia deserves nothing but your scorn. What she's done to you, to me, to Calina, and Charlie... It's unforgivable. You can't accept her offer, Yori," Elric said.

Nortia must not have noticed Elric and Calina were standing right behind her. She continued screaming at Yori for her attention, but she refused.

"We need you, Yori," Calina said. "You can end it all, right here and now. I don't know how much longer Elric and I can last..." 

How long they can last...?

"Let this all be over. You're the only one who can end this once and for all. We need you now, more than ever, to end Nortia's reign of terror. You just need to remember the awful things she has done," Elric said.

What Nortia did...

"Yeah, what he said! You got this, babe! Don't let this old bitch tell you how to feel!" 

How to feel? 

"Don't forget about us, Yori. Now, more than ever, we need you to remember. You can finish what my parents--and Charlie--started. Please..."

Yes, of course. How could Yori forget about Elric and Calina? Why would she ever forget how sweet they've been to her? 

More importantly, why did she ever think Nortia was sweet at all?

Yori spoke up and interrupted Nortia. "You killed Elric's parents, Charlie, and the Light of Truth. You colluded with Calum to terrorize both Catol and Sabine in the name of the gods. Who knows what else you've done? You were always so good at hiding your tracks, weren't you?"

"What the _hell_ are you talking about, Bellevoir?!" Nortia gasped.

"All my life, I thought the gods punished me for something. I grew up believing I did something wrong, or that _I_ was wrong. For so long, I believed something was wrong with me, inherently, as a person... But now I know the truth. There's nothing wrong with me--there never was," she sniffled again. 

"Are you listening to yourself, Bellevoir?! You've really lost it now," Nortia yelled.

"I _am_ listening, Nortia. For once, I'm deciding what _I_ want. Not what other people want me to do. I don't want to be anyone's soldier anymore," she explained. 

"We're all soldiers, Bellevoir. I'm Turan's soldier. You're my soldier. No matter what happens, you'll always be taking orders from someone," Nortia said.

Yori huffed. "That's an awful way of looking at the world. I've spent my whole life looking for someone to order me around because I never trusted myself enough. You preyed on that. You only feel strong when you're ordering around the little people, don't you?"

"I uphold the peace!" Nortia shouted.

"You _create chaos_! You'll kill your own people and call it mercy. You'll do everything you shouldn't just to feel better about yourself. I'll _never_ believe another word out of your mouth."

Nortia slammed her fists down on the desk. "You only had this opportunity because of me! You owe me everything!" 

"I owe you nothing! You owe everyone you've ever hurt as a result of your actions, direct or not. You'll never repay the debt you owe them." 

"You don't know what you're talking about. The world is cruel and unforgiving--you'll never survive as you are now. You need me, Bellevoir," she said as she stood up from her desk and grabbed Yori by the collar. 

"No. I need to trust myself for once, and that's what I'm going to do." Yori stood up and grabbed Nortia's wrist. She squeezed tightly, forcing her hand to open just enough to allow Yori to escape. Then, she kicked Nortia back into her desk. 

Nortia fell back, causing papers and folders to go flying. "You're going to regret this. Maybe not now, but in time, you will. When you struggle, you'll wish you had listened to me."

Yori turned around and began walking out of Nortia's office with her hands balled into fists. "I guess there's only one way to find out, huh? Goodbye, Nortia. May we never meet again."

"Bellevoir!" Nortia cried out, but her voice fell on Yori's deaf ears. 

There was no turning back now. Yori exited Nortia's office with newfound hope and determination.

-

When Yori opened her eyes, she was back on the rooftop of the building Nunki and Reblan had once been on. She was still lying on her stomach with her rifle pointed towards the military base. 

"I need to act fast..." she muttered. Leaning into her scope, Yori quickly picked up where she left off. Nortia had been standing in the open window, but she wouldn't be there for long. At this distance, it would be incredibly difficult to land the shot. Yori would need to account for gravity, the globe's rotation speed...

"Relax, Yori..." she exhaled gently as she psyched herself up. "You can do this. You got this." 

The scope climbed upward slowly. Yori's breathing slowed to a crawl to minimize sway. The wind calmed around her as if the gods themselves wanted to help her. But Yori didn't need the gods anymore. Everything she had was right here on earth. 

Yori made small adjustments until she was absolutely confident. She couldn't even see Nortia through her scope because she had to aim upwards to account for gravity. A blind shot in the dark and she only had one chance. If she missed, it would all be over. This bullet had to count, it _must_. 

She couldn't just let everyone down, could she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about what you said  
> And it's the end of your thought that really made me upset
> 
> Be careful before you decide  
> The universe is too big  
> You cannot make a mistake
> 
> I don't know why I let you stay  
> I don't know why I let you stay around  
> In my mind


	47. Salvation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, the loose ends are wrapped up.

Charlie lunged at Elric with their knife in hand. Had it not been for Elric's reflexes, Charlie would've certainly stabbed him in the throat. Elric's grip on Charlie's wrists was the only thing keeping him alive at this point.

"You don't know _anything_ about what I really want! You're making promises you can't keep! You're just as bad as they were!" they screamed. "Stop lying!"

"You're scared and alone. You lost everything. Trust me, more than anyone else you know, I _know_ how that feels," he insisted, kicking Charlie off of him. 

Charlie staggered back but quickly lunged again, trying to stab him in the stomach. However, he grabbed Charlie's wrist and deflected the blow, causing them to stab just to his side. 

"You didn't have to wander alone for over fifteen years. I had _nothing_! Everything I have now--I stole for it, I worked for it, I _died_ for it!" 

Elric squeezed Charlie's wrist tightly, causing them to drop the knife. Once more, he kicked them away, but the strain of doing so caused him to cough again, expelling more blood. "You don't have to die anymore, Charlie. I promise." He bent down and grabbed the knife before pocketing it.

"Shut up!" They tackled Elric to the ground and pinned him down. Straddling him, they wrapped their hands tightly around his neck and squeezed. "I don't need anything but my bare hands to kill you. I'm going to make it stop, make it all stop. M-make it stop...!"

The last breath Elric breathed was caught in his throat. Strained wails escaped him as he tried desperately to pry their hands off only to fail. His arms and legs flailed uselessly, trying as hard as he could to shake Charlie off. But still, it was in vain. 

"End it all, end it all, end it all. Nortia sends her re-regards." Charlie's voice hitched and stuttered. 

Elric knew there was only one way out of this, but he _really_ did not want to do it. He reached for the knife in his pocket slowly, making sure not to draw any more attention to it than he had to. It took all of his strength and focus just to stay conscious; it would have been all too easy to accept death and close his eye right now. 

His squeezed his eye shut and stabbed Charlie in the stomach. The full length of the blade embedded itself inside of their body, going all the way up to the hilt. Charlie gasped and wailed, but their grip only tightened. Elric knew he had to do it again, and again, and again, stabbing repeatedly into their stomach and chest. The sound of squishing flesh and punctured meat drowned out his breathless cries--the smell of rotting guts washed over him. Only now did Charlie's grip falter, giving Elric just enough room to force their body off of his and scurry away. 

Getting onto his knees, Elric stared at the blood staining both hands. It horrified him, but he knew it had to be done. Worse yet, there was even more blood on his uniform, staining it completely. Turning his attention towards Charlie, he could see the damage he inflicted finally taking its toll on their body. 

Charlie flailed on the ground, the knife still buried deep within their abdomen. A pool of blood formed underneath them, sprawling out in a thin, circular pattern around them. They gasped and wailed as they failed to wrestle the knife out of their body. The slick, wet sound of boots sliding against blood filled the room, causing Charlie to slip around on the floor. After a pregnant pause, Charlie's body went limp and fell flat on the floor, burying itself into the blood below. 

Calum egged Calina on. "Come on, subdue me. I can't exactly arrest myself, now can I?" 

Calina couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. She may not have been the brightest bulb in the box, but even she knew when something wasn't quite right. Still, she just didn't know what Calum was planning. "Step back from the sword," she demanded.

Calum obliged, taking just one step away from the sword between them. Her hands were still raised above her head. 

"I don't know what you're planning, but I'm not falling for it," Calina glared. 

"I'm not planning anything, you're just paranoid," Calum said.

"Uh huh..." Calina said.

She took one more step closer towards Calum, just waiting for her to make her move. Despite her expectations, Calum stood completely still. Calina took another step, but Calum still didn't move. She could feel her heart beating out of her chest as she glanced down at the sword between them. It was well within reach, all Calina had to do was grab it. 

"You know, I'm not really sure why you're surrendering," Calina admitted. "You have the upper hand, you know. Plus, maybe you're _actually right_. Maybe _I_ was wrong this whole time. My life was kinda shit when I wasn't in the Guild, you know!"

Somehow, this took Calum off guard. "Oh. Er, yeah. Lacrimosa really did treat you well, didn't he?"

Calina nodded. "He was like the father I never had. I guess that makes you my... mother I never had, too? You two were pretty close, right?"

"Y-your mother...? Well, that's quite flattering. You would really think of me like that?" Calum stammered.

"Well, maybe a little bit. Can I ask you a quick question, then?" Calina asked.

Calum lunged for the sword between them as quickly as she could. She reached her right hand out and grabbed the handle. Of course, she knew Calina would try and stop her, but she'd be much too slow. After all, no reflexes in the world could outspeed precognition. 

But something stopped her dead in her tracks. Her body froze up and her mind went hazy almost instantly. Her vision faded into a foggy blur and soon lost sight entirely. Nortia's gentle whispers had turned into merciless and pained shrieks of pure terror. It sent unbridled horror into Calum's very core, causing her to lock up completely. She looked as though she had been hit with a flashbang. 

Calina reached for the sword sheathed on her back and yanked it out. In one quick slice, she swung the blade downward at Calum's right hand, severing it at the wrist. The spray of blood had stained Calina's blade and her gloved hands, but it didn't matter. She quickly snatched the blade off of the floor after prying Calum's severed hand from the grip. 

Then, for added measure, Calina crossed her blades over her hands and pressed them up to Calum's throat. One quick slice with both of them would doubtlessly kill Calum.

"Guess you can't predict everything, huh?" Calina taunted her.

-

Yori walked with her head up high and her rifle slung around her shoulder. Closing the distance between herself and the military base normally would've made her feel a creeping sense of dread and anxiety, but not this time. Come what may, she could handle it. She _would_ handle it. That's what Yori Bellevoir does.

The back door swung open in front of her, revealing nothing but a pitch-black hallway leading deeper inside. The sound of her boots clicking against the hardwood floor beneath her carried her presence across the entire building. Her attention was drawn towards an illuminated doorway at the end of the hall as if it beckoned her name. She could hear the sound of distant talking, only making her even more curious. 

The door swung open before her with Elric, Charlie, Calina, and Calum recovering from their hard-fought battle. Elric was lying on his back with his upper body leaning against the wall, his hand clutched against his stomach. Calina sat next to him and applied pressure to his wound while he worked to seal it up. 

Charlie and Calum, on the other hand, weren't so lucky. Charlie's limp body lay on the floor in a puddle of what was presumably their own blood while Calum clutched at her wrist with her only hand left. Yori could see the color draining from Calum's face as more blood oozed out of her severed wrist and onto the floor below. 

She immediately darted to Elric and Calina, kneeling beside them as they turned their attention to meet her.

"Yori...?" Elric wheezed. "You're safe. That's... that's quite good."

"Hey, dummy, don't talk. You need to stay conscious, remember? You're kinda performing surgery on yourself, here," Calina reminded him.

And indeed he was. He had Calina holding part of his uniform away from his stomach so he could suture the wound shut. It was highly experimental and unusual for him to do something like this, but he'd rather not bleed out if he could avoid it. "We need to tend to Calum when I've finished up."

Yori's eyes welled up with tears. There was nothing more in the world she wanted right now than to hug both of them and head home. She knew that would have to wait, however. The last thing she should do is interfere with surgery. "You'll... You'll be okay, right?"

Elric nodded, biting his lip as he closed up his wound. "I'll have a nice scar, but aside from that..." He lifted himself onto his feet, grunting all the while. "I'll be fine. I need to help her, though."

Calum sat with her legs crossed and her eyes trained on her severed wrist. If she was in excruciating pain, she was doing a great job at hiding it. Blood stained her trousers and leaked to the floor below, but she barely even noticed. 

Elric knelt down next to her and reached into one of his many pouches, pulling out needles, gauze, alcohol, bandages, and even more equipment Yori had never seen before. She imagined stemming the blood flow from something like this to be a lot tricker than a simple cut. 

"Why don't we just let her bleed?" Yori asked.

Calum lifted her head up to meet Yori's gaze. "I'd like to know the answer to that, myself. I won't beg for forgiveness--I know I don't deserve it. I--"

"Of course not. I wanted Yori to decide what to do with you. After all, she _is_ the highest ranking officer in here, now." Elric's hands went to work, expertly cleaning the wound as best he could while sewing the severed arteries shut. 

Yori didn't quite know how to feel about that. 

"This is hardly a permanent solution," he began wiping his hands, "but it should be enough to stabilize you for a little while."

"I'm trying _so_ hard not to pass out, now," Calum said.

"What happened in here, exactly?" Yori asked.

Calum gulped. "Nortia... she had myself and Charlie under her control. We were like Nortia's fingers, seeking out and doing what needed to be done. At least, that's how it seemed. My memory is a bit hazy while this happened...I don't even know what I was doing for so long, but all of a sudden, I heard this awful screeching. It filled my head and I thought I was going to die just by hearing it. I--"

"I killed her, then," Yori said.

Calina stood up and ran towards Yori, nearly tackling her down in an aggressive embrace. "You got her?! Holy _shit_ , Yori. You never stop amazing me, you know that?"

Yori returned the hug with only half the strength Calina had. "I mean, I think I did. I need to check to be sure, though. I don't really know what happened, here, but I had this awful nightmare..."

Charlie, predictably, began lifting themself off of the floor. Their strength had not yet fully returned, so they had only managed to sit up and lean against the desk. "Gods... my head hurts."

Elric continued to treat Calum's wrist but hearing Charlie's voice made him feel a bit more at ease. Even though he knew they'd be fine, he still worried he'd actually managed to kill them. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. He stayed silent as he focused on Calum.

Once their consciousness fully returned, Charlie realized they didn't have Calum's folder. They searched frantically for it, their hands running down their entire body down to no avail. "Where did it go? What happened to the dossier?" Then, in a brief moment of clarity, the faint smell of burnt paper and ink reminded them. "I... I burned the only evidence we had. All this time, after everything we fought through, all up in smoke..."

Calum slid closer to Charlie until she could just barely grab Charlie by the arm. "Well, Nortia may be dead, but I'm not. I can confess to everything she and I were involved in."

Charlie shoved Calum's hand away. "I don't trust anything you say."

"No, we should," Yori said. "She doesn't have very many options, does she?"

"Well, if you want _my_ opinion," Calina chimed in, "I think we should let her confess, too. She may be an irredeemable piece of shit, but we'll all be in trouble if we don't get the truth out there."

"We may have killed a commanding officer and seriously injured the president of a foreign nation. This is not going to go over well politically if she doesn't confess," Elric nodded in agreement while continuing to treat Calum.

Calum sniffled. "It's the least I could do. You can hold me at gunpoint while I make the broadcast if that would make you feel better." 

"It just might," Charlie said.

"So, it's decided. Elric, Charlie, you two take Calum to the nearest radio broadcast room. Calina, come with me. I need you to help me with something, if you don't mind," Yori asked.

"Aye aye!" Calina saluted, standing up and wrapping her arm around Yori's.

Elric and Charlie lifted Calum off of the floor and hobbled slowly out of the room and down the hallway. As silence filled the room, Calina wrapped her arm tighter around Yori. 

"Come with me. I want to be sure of something," Yori said again. 

Nodding with a smile, Calina followed hand-in-hand with Yori down the halls of the unfamiliar military base. Yori twisted and turned down numerous hallways until coming across a lone office door with a proud, mahogany finish. Yori pushed the door open slowly as a sense of trepidation filled her mind. Nothing could ever prepare her for what she was about to see.

Nortia's body lay on the floor, a bullet perfectly through her forehead. A shot had never soared truer than that, nor would one ever come as close. Yori felt a mixed sense of relief and dread seeing Nortia's corpse. Her breathing slowed to a crawl, each breath felt as though they were caught in her throat. 

"She's dead. No two ways about it. I mean, look..." Calina let go briefly and reached down to grab Nortia's hat. The bullet bisected the brim perfectly and left a gaping hole in the front of the crown. 

_"It was quite the shot. I'll give you that, Bellevoir. That's not something I could've taught you."_

Yori spun around quickly. She _swore_ she heard someone standing behind her, but...

"Are you okay?" Calina set the hat down and stood up. "You look spooked. Do you wanna leave and go somewhere else?"

Yori turned back around and relaxed when she saw her girlfriend. "I'm fine. Just thought I heard something, that's all."

Calina hugged Yori tightly, feeling the warmth of her fuzzy, furry body helped calm Calina down, too. "She's gone, Yori. She can't hurt anyone anymore. Everything is gonna be fine, okay?"

"...Yeah. You're right. I'm sorry..."

"Hey, hey, don't be sorry. We've all been through a lot of shit, and we all handle it differently. We'll recover, okay?"

Yori kissed Calina on the lips, tasting the faint hint of blood and sweat as she did. Calina, of course, returned the kiss. She could feel Yori's teeth indented into her lips. Yori must have been concentrating pretty heavily to have dug into her own lips that badly, she thought. 

Interrupting the kiss was the sound of static and coughing. The speakers arranged all over the base sprung to life at once. A familiar, sorrowful voice echoed out of the static. 

_"People of Sabine, people of Catol. My name is Calum Algolin, otherwise known as the president of Catol. A matter most grave must be brought to light, and I am the only one who can do so." Calum paused and took a deep breath. "I have been... unfaithful. I have committed acts that would warrant an immediate arrest pending an investigation, but that is only the start. I worked in tandem with a high-ranking officer of the Sabinese military in order to orchestrate acts of terrorism on the people of all nations in Omnia. I was the true leader of the Thieves' Guild, funding them and allowing them to pass into the countries in order to achieve a selfish goal. As I funded them, General Nortia pardoned all members as soon as they were arrested."_

"Gods..." Calina said in disbelief. "She's actually doing it."

_"Furthermore, Nortia herself has been misleading her soldiers. She was personally responsible for the execution of a peaceful protest organization known as the Light of Truth. This was another fact I allowed her to cover up. Together, we are responsible for the murders of dozens upon dozens of innocent people. Unfortunately, Nortia cannot be punished for her actions. She has already been executed by own of her own soldiers."_

"Is she gonna say your name?" Calina wondered.

_"Nunki Vidare, one of Nortia's specialists, was a skilled markswoman. She killed Nortia, but not before Nortia could sever one of my hands. I suppose that there isn't honor among thieves after all. Unfortunately, Nunki was found deceased as well. There is not enough evidence to find a cause of death, however."_

"She's covering for us..." Yori muttered.

_"This leaves only one person left to punish to the fullest extent of the law: myself. I will turn myself in at the end of this broadcast to the local Sabinese authorities. I hope to atone for my actions and, by extension, Nortia's. To the people of Sabine, Catol, and every other nation in Omnia: I am sorry. I hope that you can all rest easier at night knowing there is no longer a threat at large. May the gods smile upon you all, and have a blessed night."_

The speakers crackled and fizzled once more as static filled the dead air. Silence followed not long after, sounding just as deafening as the static did. 

"She really did it. It doesn't excuse her, but hey, it's something," Calina commented.

"I didn't even think about what would happen after all of this. I just did what I thought was right. We could've been jailed or executed or worse, huh?" Yori said.

"What's worse than execution, exactly?"

Yori cracked an uncomfortable smile. "Not having you by my side?" 

"Hey, that's too smooth!" Calina ruffled Yori's hair. "Save some flirtiness for the rest of us, will you?" 

"Alright, but only because you asked so nicely."

Interrupting their tender moment was Elric and Charlie but not Calum. They entered the room and walked past Yori and Calina, opting to see Nortia's body for themselves. They were both silent, but Elric rubbed his hands uncomfortably, his fingers teasing his parents' rings. Charlie let out a sigh and kicked Nortia's body once. 

"You got off too easy..." Charlie sighed.

"She's gone, Charlie. No sense in worrying about it now," Elric rubbed their shoulder gently.

"I wanted her to suffer as much as I did. She deserved so much worse than what she got. One clean bullet to the skull should've been it for me, too."

"Charlie... I was never the most religious person ever. However, seeing the gemstones really do exist, it proves that there is some higher power out there. What I'm saying is that if Nortia's going anywhere in the afterlife, it's nowhere nice," Elric said.

Charlie bent down and searched through her pockets, taking the sapphire from her person before pocketing it. "That makes two of them."

Yori leaned over and saw Charlie holding both the ruby and the sapphire in their hands. "What are you going to do with those?"

Charlie turned around to face everyone and began to speak. "Well, we've learned that these are dangerous weapons. Nortia and Calum weren't the first to covet them, nor will they be the last. These need to be protected at all costs. If someone got a hold of them and we didn't know about it, what could we do? I don't trust these to pass through the generations without this all happening again."

Elric spoke up. "You don't mean..." 

"I'm taking the gemstones with me. I'll be going into hiding as far as possible from any civilization and guarding these for the rest of my... well, non-existence, I suppose. No one can ever take these for their own selfish gain," Charlie stared at the faintly glowing gemstones wistfully. 

"You don't have to do this, Charlie," Yori said. "We can just hide them, or something. They were fine for thousands of years, weren't they?" 

"I wish it were that simple. When people find out Nortia and Calum coveted the gemstones, they'll try and dig up as much information as they can about them. Who knows what they'll find out? Maybe they'll learn just how real they were? It's best if someone guards them, and you all can't exactly guard them for eternity, now can you?"

Yori walked forward and grabbed both of Charlie's hands. "This is so like you, Charlie. Always so cynical about people and what they want. Nortia and Calum are the exceptions, not the rule. However, I don't think you're entirely wrong in thinking that they should be guarded." She grabbed the ruby and sapphire out of Charlie's hands with little resistance. "You've done enough, Charlie. We can't ask more of you--it just wouldn't be right."

Elric grabbed Charlie's shoulder. "Yori's right. Didn't you say something about your parents? You sounded like you remembered something about who they are. Why don't you go find them and live with them?"

"They wouldn't recognize me. It's been too long since I--since Shanalotte--died. They probably adopted another poor kid and raised them as my replacement," Charlie sighed. 

"Hey, Charlie. Gonna be blunt: fuck that," Calina said. "Your parents would want nothing more than to see you again. Yeah, it's been a while since you had a normal life, but that doesn't mean you can't go back to it. It'll be fuckin' hard, but the answer isn't giving up everything and living in a cave." 

"Calina..." Charlie muttered.

"She's right," Yori said. "Death took a lot from you. You didn't even know your _name_. That doesn't mean that you can't start over with your parents, right? And who knows, maybe you'll remember more and more if you spend time with them. I'm sure they have plenty of old memories they want to relive with you."

"I..."

"It's okay to cry," Elric said. "We're all friends, here."

Try as they might, Charlie just couldn't hold back the tears. They began to sob into Yori's shoulder as tears streamed down their cheeks and onto her uniform. Yori wrapped her hands around Charlie's back gently and rubbed it, reassuring them. She could feel Charlie's chest heave with each sob along with their arrhythmic heartbeat. 

"It's going to be alright, Charlie," Yori reassured them. "It's over now. You can go home and live a normal life. No more fighting, no more dying, no more suffering."

"I... I barely remember them. I know their names and... and..."

"We can help you find them. Would you like that?" Yori asked.

Charlie nodded, sniffling as they did. 

"Come on, let's go. They're waiting for you, Charlie."

"...Shanalotte. Please, call me Shanalotte. I want to forget the life that Charlie lived."

"Okay, Shanalotte. We can do that. What're your parents' names?"

"...Finn and Dagda. They're my dads." 

Yori could hear Shanalotte's voice growing quieter and weaker the more they talked. It didn't sound pained or anything, just... less strained. It almost felt like Charlie had been speaking in a different voice this whole time and only now did they reveal their true voice. A shyer, quieter voice. 

Together, Elric, Yori, Calina, and Charlie left the military base. Knowing that the abandoned factory was somewhere that Shanalotte had once been before, then it was highly likely they lived somewhere nearby. From what Patch told them, Shanalotte grew up in a smaller neighborhood, nothing quite like the area Elric and Yori came from. Only one little village fit the description, and Elric and Yori knew just where to go.

Walking through the night, Yori noticed that the darkness was slowly starting to fade as the morning sun began breaking through the horizon. Had they really stayed up all night? It certainly didn't feel like it. Then again, it _had_ been quite the eventful evening, all things considered. Yori didn't even notice just how tired she was, but there would be time to rest later.

The group came across a sleepy, little village a few kilometers away. The nearby forests had managed to shroud it from view, for the most part, making finding it all the more difficult. However, the memories began flooding back ever so slowly to Shanalotte. Passing by their old stomping grounds reminded them vaguely of their first run-in with the Light of Truth near the market. 

There were dozens of buildings. None of them looked like they were Shanalotte's home, though. Did something happen while they were gone? After all, it had been well over a decade since Shanalotte disappeared. 

But then, just past a small bend in the road, a cozy cottage called out their name. Shanalotte bolted down the dirt roads and stopped in front of the door. Elric, Yori, and Calina opted to stay behind and let them go. They didn't need to get involved now.

Shanalotte eagerly banged on the door, almost enough to knock it off its hinges. A sleepy and grumpy voice answered, "Who the fuck...?" The door swung open and a tired man in his pajamas appeared. "Who do you think you are knocking on..."

"...Finn?" Shanalotte said.

The man stared blankly, examining Shanalotte from top to bottom. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, especially considering the number of times he had dreamt up this _exact_ scenario. There was only one test he needed to prove it was real, however. "...Shan?" He reached out and grabbed their shoulder, feeling the soft, leathery material on his fingers.

"Finn... I mean, dad..." Shanalotte leaned in and hugged him tightly.

"Shan?!" Finn repeated, feeling his breath get cut short by their sudden embrace. "What the hell?! Where have you been?!"

Shanalotte didn't answer. Instead, they started crying into his shoulder. Words escaped them right now, but their tears spoke volumes. 

Finn returned the hug and coughed. "Okay, okay, we can talk about it later. You're crushing my lungs, Shan."

Shanalotte loosened their grip, but not by much. "I don't want to let go..."

"...I don't either. Silicosis be damned, I say." 

Another man walked towards the door, yawning and scratching under his shirt as he did. "Who's at the d... Oh. Uh, this is unexpected."

"Dadga!" Shanalotte wrapped one arm around Finn and the other around Dagda and pulled them all together into one big embrace. 

"Where have you been?!" Dagda's voice cracked. "We spent so long looking for you! We thought you were dead!"

"I'm... I'm fine. It's a long story, but... I'm just so happy to see you two. A lot happened, but..." Shanalotte trailed off. 

"Let's just start over, as a family. Let's pick up where we left off and just... Let's be happy, okay?" Finn suggested.

Shanalotte grinned and walked inside their home with both parents. The door shut quietly behind them, leaving only the sound of chirping birds in the air. Elric, Yori, and Calina looked back at each other and smiled. 

"So, what is there left to do?" Elric asked. "A lot of innocent people died for those gemstones."

Yori pulled the ruby and sapphire out of her pocket and looked at them. The faintest of glows shimmered from each of them in a dazzling and enticing spectacle. "We'll guard them. This will never happen again."

Calina grinned. "Are you gonna hang 'em on your wall or something?"

"Oh, no. I have a better idea." Yori took a deep breath and bowed in front of Calina. She extended her hand and opened it, revealing the ruby in her palm. "Calina Shaori, I would be delighted if you accepted this ruby. We can watch over them together if you'd like." 

Calina clasped her hands over her mouth and blushed. "Excuse me? Are you proposing?" 

Yori immediately stood up and blushed even more than Calina did. "Wh-what?! It wasn't like that, I swear! I just wanted to... Oh, gods."

"Hey, I'm not opposed to the idea. Seems a little early if you ask me, but..." Calina snatched the ruby from her hand. "Who am I to say no to a pretty lady?"

Yori pocketed her sapphire and buried her face in her hands. "Oh, my gods. Elric, help me..."

Elric held his hands up and walked backward slowly. "Absolutely not. This is your own situation, not mine."

"If we're rushing things, what should we call the baby? Maybe something like Elric Jr.?" Calina made herself laugh.

"Calina!" Yori shouted.

"What if you don't have a boy?" Elric asked, half serious.

"Erm... I dunno. How about, uh, Yorina? Cari? Something like that?"

"Calina!!" Yori shouted again.

"I was honestly surprised you didn't suggest Calina II," Elric smirked.

"That's too elegant for my tastes. I kinda got used to being a scruffy thief, you know?"

"Don't make me take that ruby back..." Yori's voice was muffled by her hands. 

Calina wrapped her arms around Yori and pressed their bodies together. She pried Yori's hands away from her face and smiled. "You're so cute when you blush, you know that?"

"I can't weaponize my cuteness like you can, though," Yori said.

"You do just fine," Calina said, bringing her face closer to Yori's.

"Teach me your secrets," Yori's face drew closer to hers.

"Only if you teach me yours, too."

As they drew closer and closer, their lips grew even closer still. Once their lips touched, they couldn't help themselves. They began to kiss gently, rubbing each others' backs as they did. They melted into each other's presence as they drowned out the world around them. 

All the while, Elric realized just how much of a third wheel he was being. He hoped they won't drag him on all of their dates. 

He could tell there would be plenty. 

-

_Ten years later._

In a darkened room a dim candle burned. The room reeked of stale gunpowder and sticky sweat permeated the room, smacking any poor soul who walked in unaware of the dangers that lurked behind closed doors. On the walls, multiple sniper rifles of varying models, makes, and ages were hung and encased in glass. A single bed lay on one side of the room, large enough to fit two people comfortably. 

On the other side of the room was a wooden table with books stacked high and candles illuminating the front side. A hunched over figure sat in a wooden chair, scrawling desperately into the pages of a notebook. The sound of scribbling graphite against blank paper filled the room as well, accompanying the soft crackling of the nearby candles. 

Melted wax dripped down the side of a candle placed on top of a stack of books, running down the spines. Each of them was unlabeled but full of scrawlings and notes about various topics. They served primarily as placeholders for future ideas or topics to consider for publication.

A newspaper clipping lay on the floor next to the table. It had been lovingly cut out of a sprawling front-page article the day after the largest scandal Sabine had ever seen.

_Disgraced General Discharged With Deadly Force_

_The Sabine Stories received word earlier this morning that former General Nortia had been found dead in her office. The former General of the standing army of Sabine had been revealed to have cooperated with President Calum of Catol in organizing and funding the infamous Thieves' Guild. Moreover, it has also been reported that the disgraced general had also killed dozens of peaceful protestors, according to Calum's testimony. Whether or not this is the truth has yet to be revealed, but Calum has so far been truthful in her confessions._

_Nortia's body was discovered early this morning with a single bullet wound in the skull. The caliber of the bullet appears to have been 7.62x54mmR, a bullet type in use by the latest of sniper rifles--namely, the Mosin Nagant. At the time of the incident, there was only one person who was capable of performing such an act with this weapon: former Specialist Nunki Vidare. It is unknown what their relationship had been like. Writers from the Sabine Stories have reached out to Specialist Nunki's family, but they declined to comment. Queen Turan had this to say, however:_

_"I am both shocked and horrified that such a monster had been working directly underneath me for so long. My deepest condolences go out to not only the victims of any Thieves' Guild attacks but everyone that Nortia has harmed. We have begun a deep and intensive independent audit of all high-ranking officers, but we do not believe there to be any lasting threat to the people at this time._

_"With that being said, we understand that Catol is suffering just as much, if not more than Sabine is in this tumultuous time. I will be working closely with the members of Catol's parliament to re-establish a firm and trusting relationship between both nations for the ages to come. Let it be known that Nortia's and Calum's actions do not reflect those of the people of either nation they swore to protect, nor do they represent my own._

_"We have suffered greatly these past years, but we will survive. We are strong, we are resilient, and we are capable. May the Gods smile upon you all."_

The figure reached down and picked up the newspaper scrap. It was old and stained with the passing of time, but the memories were just as clear as they were ten years ago. After filing the clipping away, the author got back to work. Indeed, the hunched over figure was writing the first draft of her latest book: _Expert Level Sniping_. She had spent quite a while adding the finishing touches to her life's work. Everything she had experienced was laid bare on each page: a process that her therapist suggested would help her sort out her feelings. A particular passage had been difficult to write coherently, but after much trial and error, she had settled on the following:

 _Many of the other sniping guides will tell you_ how _to take the shot: wind speed, trajectory, travel time, and so on. But something that_ this _guide should have taught you is whether or not you should be taking that shot at all. Yes, there are times where pulling the trigger seems almost impossible. However, you must remember why you're doing it at all. Assuming you aren't just a hobbyist sniper, and I'm going to assume that you aren't if you've read an entire series of sniping textbooks, then you will doubtlessly be taking someone's life before long. You're a guardian, even if it means that someone else has to die. It's up to you to ensure the people you love can get home safely. The burden is on you if you hesitate for even a moment._

 _Snipers need a strong moral compass. I had a particular comrade who lost her way. Sometimes, I'd like to think we could have been friends if things had turned out differently. It doesn't matter now, however. She is gone and I am not. To this day, I still do not think of myself as any better of a sniper than she could have been. What set us apart was not our weapons of choice, the hours we practiced, or even our dedication. What we believed in--_ who _we believed in--that's what made all the difference._

 _I know this doesn't really sound like good sniping advice, but I can assure you that it is. There isn't much that I can teach you that you won't pick up from hours upon hours of practice. Some things just simply cannot be taught, either, but what I_ can _teach you is how to use your abilities for good. Never forget your goals, your beliefs, and who you're fighting for. People are relying on you, whether you realize it or try not to._

This particular passage had been extremely difficult for Yori to write. Her first drafts were worse than useless: walls of text that managed to say nothing at all. She carefully danced around her own feelings, too uncomfortable writing them out for all the world to see. Then, as she grew more relaxed, she was still unsatisfied with how she worded her thoughts. What words could possibly describe how she felt, after all?

While this particular draft wasn't quite what she wanted, it was the best she would get. Writing may never be her strong suit, but it had to be done. Not just for herself, but for anyone who would come after her. People are mortal, but the words they leave behind can last for centuries to come. 

Was this how Nortia felt? Getting old was scarier than Yori had ever thought. Even though she was only in her thirties now, she could only imagine how much worse it felt to be in her mid to late fifties. 

"I'm glad she didn't write any books..." Yori muttered. Putting her pen aside, Yori shuffled the papers in front of her into a neater pile. In the morning, she would take them to her editor for review. Once that was done, it would be completely out of her hands.

There were a lot of things that were out of her hands now. However, when she thought back to her glory days, she realized just how much control she had over her life. It was no secret that Yori lamented her status as a _Sine affinitas_. It used to bother her so much, thinking that the gods were cursing her to a pitiful and lame existence. 

But looking back, Yori realized just how little it all mattered. She spent so long worrying over nothing! It only took years of constant reassurance and therapy to get her to consider the possibility that she wasn't cursed. Even today she still thinks about what her life would be like if she ever got her affinity.

She quietly dispelled these thoughts, remembering the gemstone that sat on her finger. If she wanted--if Calina wanted--to perform the ritual, they absolutely could. There was nothing stopping them from doing so. Of course, Yori would be lying if she said she had never considered it, but she knew that she didn't need an affinity to feel whole. Her friends and family helped her self-image more than a cheap party trick ever could, she realized.

Yori leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. "You know, gods, I don't know what you think of me. Maybe you thought I was too skilled or talented to need an affinity, or maybe you just thought it'd be a nice joke to watch me suffer all those years. I still don't know if I should laugh or cry about it, but I'm not going to let this mess define me." 

Yori Bellevoir: ex-soldier, author, best friend, and wife. She was no longer Yori the coward, Yori the _Sine affinitas_ , or even Yori the mental trainwreck. She was her own woman now, even though it may have taken her longer than most others to get there. She made it, in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Thank you for coming all this way to the end with me. It's been a long time in the making--I started conceptualizing this story around late 2016. I don't have an exact date when, but why don't we say today is the second anniversary of Affinity Unbound?
> 
> I put a lot of heart into this. If you've come this far, then I don't know what else to say aside from 'thank you'. Really, it means a lot. I hope you enjoyed it, even if just a little bit. This story came from a personal place from me in more ways than one: the characters, the struggles, all of it felt so real to me. 
> 
> I think this would be the best song for a sort of 'final credits'. Check it out here:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho1ShVDMtx4
> 
> I'd like to thank my wonderful significant other BattyJr (AKA @DapperGatr) for drawing all of the wonderful banners you've seen and providing emotional support throughout this entire journey. I would also like to thank my friend Willow (https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMX004_Qubeley/pseuds/AMX004_Qubeley) for being my editor and making my writing suck significantly less. 
> 
> And, of course, I'd like to thank YOU. I may never know your name, why you read this or anything about you, but I appreciate you all the same. Even if you've just been lurking, thank you. 
> 
> I'll be back here writing up some more stuff in time, but for now, I think I'll take a break. 
> 
> Catch you on the other side.


End file.
